Burger King Employee With Autism Allegedly Pressured to Resign After Management Change

The mother of a 27-year-old Burger King employee with autism says her son has been bullied in the workplace. According to her, after management changed, he was pressured to quit, Orda.kz reports

Despite his special needs, Alibek was coping with his work duties, had managed to fit into the team and had worked steadily while taking part in company life for four years.

«He finished school, studied at the T. Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts and became a sculptor. He also developed an interest in plasticine animation cartoons. He tried working in different places and finally found a job and a team he liked, where he was successful — as a cook at Burger King. He worked consistently for four years, received a salary, happily spent the money he earned, felt involved in the team, stayed late when it was "all hands on deck", planned his holidays, and transferred from one branch to another,» wrote Zhanat Karatai, Alibek’s mother 

The company had supported him despite his diagnosis. However, after new management came in, difficulties started. His mother says the team’s attitude toward Alibek changed, but the “hidden bullying” went unnoticed until someone pointed it out to her.

«Everything changed from the moment a new regional manager, Sergei, arrived. The quiet bullying started, and since autumn, Alibek had not been himself. We didn’t know what was happening until someone passed us a message saying that they were forcing him to resign,» Zhanat wrote. 

She later spoke with the new regional manager in person. According to her, he was unfamiliar with both inclusive workplaces and autism.

«Talking to him in person was rock bottom. It was like speaking to a robot. It turned out that he had recently moved to our country and had no concept of an inclusive society. He has never encountered autistic people working on equal terms with everyone or even heard of it,» Alibek’s mother complained. 

The story has received a wide response on social media. Hundreds of people are supporting the family, and many comments say they cannot understand how someone could act this way in such a situation.

Burger King responded fairly generally, expressing regret about what happened and stating that the company supports equal opportunities for all employees in its network. The Ministry of Labour also responded to the public outcry, stating that it would look into the situation and conduct an inspection of the food service chain.

Incidentally, attitudes towards people with autism in Kazakhstan are not entirely tolerant. Many people still do not fully understand what autism is or how it affects everyday life, which can lead to stigma and blame. A recent example of this occurred on social media when a blogger claimed that parents who led a "wild lifestyle" were supposedly to blame for their children’s autism. This sparked a public backlash, after which the blogger was detained and an administrative case was opened under the petty hooliganism article.