A Burger King employee who was allegedly fired after going viral for running an entire restaurant on her own has shared new details about her exhausting shift.
Nykia Hamilton, a 25-year-old mother of three, became the subject of viral attention after a TikTok video showed her juggling multiple responsibilities at a Burger King in Columbia, South Carolina.
The video highlighted her taking on every task at the restaurant, from flipping burgers and frying potatoes to handling the front counter and drive-thru orders - all while customers waited in line.
In an emotional interview with WACH Fox 57, the worker opened up about the difficulties she faced during that day.
"[I] Had to do the dishes, do prep, do the floor, do the front counter, drive-thru," she said.
"I be missing out on my kids’ lives and I work a lot... I have to provide for them, but I really don’t have time to spend with them – and it hurts me a lot."
Despite the grueling hours and heavy workload, Hamilton expressed gratitude for the opportunity her manager had given her, particularly because of her past.
"I wouldn’t have a job because I have a record, and it’s hard to find a job with a record.
"But by the grace of God, she gave me a job," she said.
"That’s the only reason why I stayed — for her."
After the video gained national attention and Hamilton appeared in local interviews, she was told she would be fired.
"They [Burger King] fired me because I’ve been late because of my kids," she explained on her TikTok page.
"My kids come first. Y’all don’t pay for no babysitter or nothing."
However, Burger King issued a statement to the New York Post addressing the situation and emphasized that no employee should ever be left to run a restaurant alone.
“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,” the statement read.
They also clarified that staffing decisions, including terminations, are handled by individual franchisees.
“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," they said.
"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," Burger King concluded.
After being let go, Hamilton went live on Facebook to clarify the timeline of her viral shift, stating that she didn’t work for 12 hours straight.
"When I ended up working at Burger King by myself - no, I did not work 12 hours," she said, noting that she had worked her first job from 9 a.m. to about 2 or 3 p.m. before heading to Burger King.
She then headed straight to Burger King, where she was supposed to pick up her co-worker, who ended up quitting the job.
So, a few hours before her shift started, she texted my general manager, who was out of town, that there was no cook.
The GM then told the district manager, whose only response was, ‘Oh, that's too sad,’” Hamilton said, adding that no one was sent to help her.
She worked from 2 p.m. until closing at 11 p.m. on that day.
Hamilton has set up a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised over $110,616 at the time of writing.
In the fundraiser description, she wrote: “I am a 25-year-old single mom of 3 who works 2 jobs. I just went viral for working on TikTok.
"If you wanna contribute, it’s ok. Thank y’all for the support.
"I wasn’t expecting my life to change how it did. I really do everything for my kids.”