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Did B&M fire staff after sexual assault complaint? Teen Mom's Farrah Abraham backs ex-employee who was 'silenced'

In a shocking Twitter thread, a woman named Charlotte Billins claimed she was fired from work after she registered a 'sexual assault' complaint against a coworker

A British variety store chain founded in 1978 seems to have come under the scanner after a set of allegations on social media. Also known as B&M Bargains and the larger B&M Homestore, the retailer employs over 28,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In a shocking tweet thread on Twitter, a woman named Charlotte Billins — with the social media handle @charbillins — claimed she was fired from work after she registered a “sexual assault” complaint. The tweets soon grabbed many eyeballs and ‘Teen Mom’ star Farrah Abraham also retweeted it saying “You are in the right!”

“Fired me for reporting a sexual assault at work just to silence me, I’m not letting this go, disgusting way to treat your staff,” Charlotte's tweet read. Posted on December 20, 2020, it also had a screenshot attached of an email she received. In support of her, the tweet from Farrah read, “To all the women who are wrongfully fired stand strong! You are in the right!”

But the story first started on December 8, 2020, when she wrote, "Girls that are working in warehouses atm especially @bmstores please look out for yourselves because their staff and managers will not look after you."

On the same day, she added, "Can’t believe I reported a sexual assault at work and after a weeks investigation they have come to the conclusion that I misinterpreted a friendly encounter and that because I had developed a ‘friendly relationship’ with the man, that I essentially asked for it." In the same thread, she added, "There was no communication throughout the investigation, the man in question was not suspended nor moved to alternate shifts. No welfare call or check-up, and when asked for a copy of their grievance process and was denied by HR."

Here's a screenshot of her tweets.

In her new tweet, she posted a screenshot of an email with the subject “Work at B&M” that read: "Good afternoon Charlotte and Zoe, I am sorry to notify you that Neena has informed us that the investigation has been complete and the man involved will remain at B&M. We won't be able to welcome you back here, but if we have any more work around Bedford we will be in touch, apologies for the inconvenience.”

She added, "Completely blown away by this response and never expected to have this many people who cared but I guess whilst you’re here if you could give my new candle venture a follow it would mean the absolute world! Will be posting new year sales in Jan.” And continued, “Had misinterpreted the interaction and that it was a cultural difference and she knew this for a fact because she has “Greek friends”, this email is all I have to show for the conclusion of investigation. Such a lack of communication and no welfare check up either, (part 2).”

“I will be taking this to the police and seeing if I can attain some sort of legal representation for myself here for free as you have all suggested (in my dms and in replies) thank you all for your help! (Part 3),” she also wrote. Not just that, Charlotte added, "In regards to everyone’s concern whether I was hired through the agency or @bmstores
directly, it was through an agency, however the managers at the warehouse directly told me they were handling the matter. I actually was told by the head of HR @ the Bedford store that I (part 1).”

Here are screenshots of her Twitter thread:

We do not know much about Charlotte but her Twitter profile says she resides in Bedford, England. An Instagram profile linked to her Twitter handle gives us a closer look at her life. Here's a photo from her public Instagram account.

We have written to the B&M Store's team as well as Charlotte about the viral Twitter thread and are still awaiting their response. We will update this article once we have more information about the case.