Nykia Hamilton, a 25-year-old single mother of three, once worked an entire 12-hour shift at a Burger King in Columbia, South Carolina, completely by herself. She took orders, cooked food, handled the drive-thru, and cleaned up the restaurant, all without any help. Customers were shocked and impressed by her dedication, and a video of her doing it all went viral online.
Despite her hard work, Nykia was later fired. She said the reason was because she was late to work a few times due to taking care of her children. “At the end of the day, I do it for them,” she said, explaining that her kids are her priority. She is raising three children on her own, and one of them is about to start school. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” she added.
After losing her job, Nykia started pursuing comedy and received support from people online. A GoFundMe was set up for her and has raised more than \$90,000 to help her and her children.
Burger King later released a statement saying that decisions about hiring and firing are made by the franchise owners, not by the company directly. They explained that Nykia was let go because of “repeated attendance issues.” However, the company also admitted that it was unacceptable for her to have been left to run the entire restaurant alone, even for a short period. They said this went against their policy, which requires more than one worker per shift.
Nykia said that the company does not help pay for babysitting, and as a mother, her children come first. She was touched when she saw her son comment on a video of her working hard, saying, “I know my mama loves me.”
