A teenager was fired from her job at KFC while attending a tangi for her grandfather.

Mirama Kawana, 18, had been working at Whanganui KFC for a few months when her grandfather died in October 2019.

Kawana said she told her shift supervisor she would need to take time off to attend the tangi up north, starting from the next day.

David White/Stuff Mirama Kawana has filed a personal grievance with Restaurant Brands Limited, which owns KFC (file photo).

Kawana's supervisor told her she would need to find someone to cover her shift on the next day. Kawana said she tried to organise cover but couldn't and told her supervisor of that fact.

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While she was still away, Kawana was sent an email from the restaurant manager, sighted by Stuff, alleging Kawana had abandoned her job because she did not attend shifts on the two previous days.

The manager said if Kawana did not reply in two days her employment would be terminated.

Two days later, KFC sent a termination letter.

Kawana said she didn't have access to phone reception or wi-fi at the tangi and only saw the emails when she got home.

"I was quite upset," she said.

"When I got back from the funeral I just wanted to go back to work and stay busy so I didn't dwell on the loss too much but I couldn't."

She emailed her employer, reminding them she had told them about her time off and questioning the termination.

However, she did not receive any response.

With the help of the union Unite, which represents workers in the fast food industry, Kanawa has now filed a personal grievance with Restaurant Brands Ltd, which owns KFC.

She is claiming unjustified dismissal, unjustified disadvantage and breach of good faith.

Kawana is seeking compensation for loss of income, as well as for hurt and humiliation, along with a letter of apology from her employer.

A KFC spokeswoman said as the situation was "an active employment matter", she could not comment.