Lunch lady fired for giving a student, 17, free food 'hadn't charged him for THREE months and messaged the boy on Facebook to tell him to keep quiet'
- Bonnie Kimball was fired from her high school cafeteria job in New Hampshire after giving $8 worth of food to a student who had no money on his account
- Her termination sparked outrage, and she received an outpouring of support from a number of high-profile figures
- However, the company who fired Kimball is now accusing her of dishonesty and claims the student 'hadn't been charged anything for the previous three months'
- The male student's mother claims Kimball messaged him on Facebook to orchestrate a cover-up
The story of the New Hampshire lunch lady fired for giving a student $8 worth of food has taken a dramatic turn, with the catering company now calling her a liar and the student's mother accusing her of orchestrating a cover-up.
Bonnie Kimball was terminated on March 28 by Fresh Picks Café, a company that supplies food to the Mascoma Valley Regional High School in Canaan, after she gave the male student lunch in spite of the fact he had no money on his account.
And while Kimball's termination sparked outrage on the internet, Fresh Picks Café is now hitting back in a YouTube video statement.
In the clip, published on Monday, company president Brian Stone stated: 'The employee told the manager that she charged the student's account for the lunch, but the manager later confirmed that there were no charges on the account - so what the employee said was not true.'
Meanwhile, the student's mother has also spoken out, accusing Kimball of messaging her son on Facebook in order to orchestrate a cover-up.
Bonnie Kimball, who was fired from her job as a lunch lady on March 28, has now been called 'dishonest' by her former employer in a statement they released on YouTube
The mother showed the Union Leader Facebook messages that the lunch lady sent her son on March 28, telling him to load money to his card for the next day because her manager would be watching her ring up the charges.
'We will prolly [sic] get written up, but we can make it look good. Lol,' Kimball reportedly wrote to the boy.
The mother of the student said to the Union Leader: 'What kind of an adult says that to a child?'
Kimball is further accused of sending the boy messages in the weeks after her termination, including a recent one in which she bragged that she was going to appear on TV and meet 'famous football players'.
Meanwhile, the mother further claimed that rumors that her child was 'hungry' are fabricated.
'I have three children, and they are all well-cared for and well-fed. She did not get fired for feeding a hungry child'.
Kimball has also come under fire from the mother of the 17-year-old student to whom she gave the free food
Brian Stone of Fresh Picks Café has described Kimball as 'dishonest' in a newly-released YouTube video
Additionally, Fresh Picks Café claim that Kimball may not have billed the boy for months.
In the YouTube statement, Stone stated: 'Despite the fact that the student goes through the line frequently... they hadn't been charged for anything for the previous three months.'
They further claim that on March 28, she loaded up the boy's tray with a la carte items, beyond the basic lunch service. Items served to the student apparently included cookies, French fries and a Gatorade.
Speaking with the Union Leader, Kimball appeared to explain why the student's account hadn't been billed.
She said she would regularly let the teen charge food to his friends' accounts because he was a popular 'jock'.
It's a twist in the story that has garnered national attention in recent days, with Kimball finding several high profile supporters.
In response to public outreach after the news of her firing broke, Kimball has created a GoFundMe page which has amassed close to $8,000 in donations.
Chef Jose Andrés, who has restaurants located in Washington DC, Los Angeles and Miami, said earlier this week that he was willing to give Kimball a job and described her as a 'hero'.
He tweeted: 'The hero is Bonnie Kimball! If she needs a job we have openings at @thinkfoodgroup if you know her, let her know!'
'A person that is so resolute like her to make that decision to feed a hungry child even knowing she may get in trouble, a person like this, I guarantee you, will be worth having at any company.'
He added: 'A hero like Bonnie shouldn't be fired for giving a hungry child a meal.'
Chef José Andrés has offered a job to Kimball, taking to Twitter and calling her a 'hero'
Kimball was employed at the Mascoma Valley Regional High School (pictured) in Canaan, New Hampshire
Meanwhile, Kimball spoke with ABC News earlier this week, saying that she told the male student at the time she gave him the food that he needed to top up his card when it showed he had no funds.
'I just told him, "Have your mom send in some money tomorrow,' Kimball claimed, adding that she 'had no doubt he would pay for his meal the next day.'
'The man who fired me actually stood with me, watched me do the transaction. He said "okay" and he walked off,' Kimball said.
'The boy brought the money in at 7.30 in the morning... and paid his account in full,' she continued.
'His family is very well known in this town and I can guarantee that if I called his mother, she would have come right in and paid the bill. But I didn't want to get her out of work,' Kimball said.
Fresh Picks Café claim that Kimball (pictured) may not have billed the boy for months
'I know they would have brought the money the next day. The bill was going to get paid.'
At the time of her firing, Kimball said she was told, 'Do you understand what you did was wrong? That was theft.'
Stone told DailyMail.com 'an employee violated school and company policy in dealing with our food service and our district manager made a decision he felt was right at the time.'
However, Kimball told ABC News: 'The school should bring on another vendor - one that will treat the children better.'
'They'll never have another kitchen crew like we were. We made those lunches with love. We weren't just lunch ladies,' she said. 'We went above and beyond our job and made sure the kids got what they wanted and how they liked it.'
Kimball also claims that she has received an outpouring of support on her Facebook page, including from a U.S. Navy SEAL and a professional football player.
And while it was reported that Fresh Picks Café had initially offered to re-hire her - with back pay for the month of work she had missed - it seems their YouTube statement now proves otherwise.
A letter dated April 9 from the company describes the reasoning for her firing as providing unpaid items to a student during lunch
