An employee of the New Hampshire cafeteria, dismissed for offering a free breakfast to a boy, is shocked by his employer, whom she described as "dishonest"

May 21, 2019, 16:27 UTC

By Minyvonne Burke

An employee of the New Hampshire cafeteria was fired from her job after apparently offering a free lunch to a student because he did not have any money, said she was in shock . His former employer accuses him of lying.

The dismissal of Bonnie Kimball drew public attention last week after he said he had received a letter from his employer, Cafe Services, informing him of his dismissal.

The Fresh Picks Cafe reporter, who worked for the school division of the company, told the Union Leader newspaper that a student from Mascoma Valley Regional High School had bought several "à la carte" items but did not have any. money on his account. discreetly told the student to have his mother put money on his account.

On March 29, a day later, the boy paid his meal bill but Kimball said she had been summoned by two directors who had fired her up and down.

President of Fresh Picks Cafe, Brian Stone, said in a statement to YouTube on Monday that the student had not been charged for his lunch nor for any of the four additional items he had available. In addition, Mr. Stone stated that a review of the student's account had revealed that the child had not been billed in the previous three months.

"The employee told the manager that she was billing the student's account for lunch, but the manager later confirmed that she did not carry any charge, so what's wrong?" "The employee said it was not true," Stone said. "Every student in the waiting queue receives a lunch, so there was no reason for it not to charge the account."

He added: "This employee was dishonest and was fired for not following the procedures."

Kimball told NBC Boston in a phone interview Monday that she could not believe what Stone had said.

"I was like:" Wow, I can not believe it, "she said.

Kimball also insisted that she did nothing wrong.

"I made sure the meal was paid," she told NBC Boston. "For me, let this kid go hungry because he did not bring any money that day, it would have been bad."

The Fresh Picks Cafe said that students are not denied a standard lunch if they do not have money, but that in accordance with school policy they have need money on their account or money for a la carte items. The company said the student had a full standard lunch on his platter, as well as fries and two packets of cookies, both a la carte.

Kimball also handed a Powerade to the student when he arrived on the register, the company said.

"Not only would she not have allowed the additional items to the card, but she did not record or bill any items, including the main lunch, on the student's account so that 39, they can be paid in the future, "said Fresh Picks.

After consulting the school district, Fresh Picks Cafe then offered Kimball his job. A spokeswoman for the company said Tuesday that she did not think Kimball would accept this offer.

After the famous chef José Andrés got wind of the story, he published a tweet Kimball's position at Think Food Group. It is not clear whether Kimball will accept the offer and a request for comment from Andrés' spokesperson was not immediately returned.