Employee Verbally Assaulted By Her Manager After She Was Short $1 While Handing Change To Customer — 'You'll Never Amount To Anything'
The employee claims this is not the first time she has been insulted and degraded by her manager.
Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock / @brenda_birkin / TikTok After a fast food employee made a minor mistake while handing change back to a customer, her manager approached, proceeding to degrade and humiliate her. The incident resulted in the employee breaking down in tears, forcing her to momentarily step away from the food counter to compose herself.
Now, the employee is seeking advice from the Internet, asking what her next steps should be to put a stop to her manager’s mistreatment of her.
The manager whispered 'You’ll never amount to anything' in the worker’s ear after she was $1 short when handing change back to a customer.
Brenda, a fast food employee who started working at a Burger King restaurant in Los Angeles in May 2023, shared that the manager has been cruel to her from the start, often making rude and critical comments to her employee in front of customers.
Brenda has always tried to ignore her manager’s insults and focus on her job. However, one instance left her heartbroken and humiliated. She took to TikTok to reveal the experience.
In the video, a tearful Brenda said that after giving a customer their change back, she realized that she was a dollar short. Since she had already closed the cash register, she asked her manager to open it back up with a key so she could give the correct amount of change to the customer.
“She goes to the cash register, opens it, and in my ear, she says that I basically don’t amount to anything in Spanish,” Brenda said. The comment took her by surprise. “It made me feel ugly because other times at least she says that out loud where everyone hears the ugliest insults that she just says to me, but this time she said it just directly to me when no one heard.”
While Brenda acknowledged that she “shouldn't care” what her manager said to her, especially if her words were degrading, this remark was an especially hurtful one that Brenda could not shake off.
After dealing with an unruly customer later in her shift, Brenda had to step away from the counter, feeling overwhelmed with emotion. “I stepped aside and I cried in the back,” she admitted.
Brenda added in the caption of her video that her manager, whom she referred to as “Manager Ingrid,” had given her difficulties since she started her job. “[She] has been insulting me verbally out loud for any misunderstanding,” Brenda claimed.
She believes that some of the mistreatment her manager has thrown at her is due to the fact that she is the only young, female employee. “I’m the only person she treats this way,” she said. “She has me working on almost everything while the other employees just get to relax when there’s no customers.”
Brenda asked for viewers’ advice, sharing that she has attempted to contact Human Resources to report her manager, but her phone calls have gone unanswered and many of the offices in her location are closed.
“I feel helpless. Please if anyone knows of anything I can do please let me know,” Brenda added.
Other TikTok users expressed their sympathies and encouraged her to find a new job.
“You deserve better, that is not okay. She needs to take a good look in the mirror when saying that to someone else. Work is not meant to be miserable,” one user commented.
“I come from restaurant management. You don’t deserve that at all. No good manager will ever insult their team. Without my crew I am nothing! Stay strong!” another user shared.
Others tagged the official Burger King TikTok account in the comments to notify the company about the situation.
Brenda later shared that she was fired from Burger King.
Just one week after posting her original video, Brenda revealed that she had been suddenly terminated from her job and that her manager had “ghosted” her.
Managers not only have the responsibility to make sure the business they are in charge of runs smoothly, but that they are treating their employees with respect. In this case, Brenda's manager proved that she should not be in a high place of power.
It appears as though "Manager Ingrid," like many bosses, intend to make their employees feel shame or guilt for doing something wrong. Even something as minute as being $1 short is seen as a "mistake."
Whatever reasons this manager had for berating and verbally abusing her employee, at least now Brenda can find a new place to work, hopefully one where she is treated with respect and dignity.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.