The mother-of-three who went viral for working alone at a busy Burger King has been fired by the company.
In June, a TikTok video of Nykia Hamilton working solo at a Columbia, South Carolina, Burger King gained traction online after she was seen scurrying around the fast food restaurant attempting to do the jobs of several people, including preparing meals, ringing up customers, and cleaning.
The 25-year-old was working two jobs to support her family. But now, she has claimed she was fired by the fast food chain for being late to work.
“My kids come first. Y’all don’t pay for no babysitter, or nothing,” an emotional Hamilton said in an August 8 TikTok video sharing the news of her firing.
“My mind is already f***ed up. I’m trying to keep pushing for my kids, but I cannot do this s*** no more. The devil been on my back bad,” Hamilton continued.
When contacted about Hamilton’s situation, a Burger King spokesperson told The Independent: “No Team Member should ever be left to run a restaurant alone, even for a short period of time. That’s not how we operate, and we’re disappointed that our policy, which requires more than one Team Member to work per shift, wasn’t followed.
“Terminations are the decision of the franchisees who own and operate the BK restaurant. In this situation, the franchisee confirmed that the individual involved is no longer employed due to repeated attendance issues.
“While we can’t share more on individual personnel matters, we’re focused on making sure every restaurant, whether company or franchise-run, has the staffing and support needed to take care of our Team Members and deliver the kind of experience our Guests expect.”
Hamilton, who started a GoFundMe page after her initial viral video, has raised more than $96,000 as of publication.
“Thank yall so much for the support I didn’t expect turn out but I promise I won’t let yall stay tune for videos dropping soon,” she wrote in a Wednesday update on the fundraising page.
Hamilton previously opened up about having to sacrifice time with her children for work during an interview with local Fox affiliate WACH.
“I be missing out on my kids’ lives and I work a lot,” she said during an emotional interview outside the Burger King restaurant. “I have to provide for them, but I really don’t have time to spend with them—and it hurts me a lot.”
She explained how she often worked 12 hours a day alone at Burger King, leaving her to balance multiple tasks at once.
“One of my employees just quit on me, and they didn’t have anyone else to come in, so I had to work by myself, and close by myself,” she explained. “Had to do the dishes, do prep, do the floor, do the front counter, drive-thru.” She said she’d finally gotten help the day of the WACH interview, after closing the restaurant by herself the night before.
“[My co-worker] has been here since 11 o’clock and will stay until close at 11,” she said. “We just don’t have any employees. Nobody wants to work anymore.”
Despite working by herself sometimes, Hamilton was grateful that her manager gave her the job.
“I wouldn’t have no job because I do have a record, and it is hard to find a job with a record. And by grace of God, she gave me a job,” she added about her manager. “So that’s the only reason why I stayed for her.”
