A waitress was fired for accepting a $4,400 tip from customers in full – all because the manager wanted her to only get 20% of the tip and share it with the rest of the workers. Do you think that’s fair?
Waitress Fired for Accepting $4,400 Tip (Manager Wanted the 80%)
Working as a waitress can be a huge challenge, especially because the pay isn’t really good in most restaurants. Thankfully, many of the servers earn extra from tips given by happy customers.
There’s debate about tipping – how much to tip, whether the server deserves to get it all or share it with the rest of the staff, etc.
But the world is aghast over the news that a waitress was fired after accepting a $4,400 tip from a customer in full – and that’s because the manager wanted her to only get 20% of the tip, while the rest of the money should be shared among the other workers.
Photo credit: @rebeccasoto_legacy
The drama began when Ryan Brandt tended to a table of 40+ business executives at a restaurant in Arkansas.
According to UNILAD, the huge group dined at Oven & Tap eatery where they were served by Brandt and another waitress.
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Apparently, the group had agreed to pool in $100 each to tip their server as a way to help them out – and because they were many, the money reached over $4,000.
“Everybody at this table has contributed or tipped $100 for you, and for the other waitress, who unfortunately had to go home because she wasn’t feeling well,” the group’s host, Grant Wise, explained to Brandt.
“And then we put it out to our social media channels, and we actually had quite a bit more money sent in. So we are tipping you a total of $4,400 for you to split with the other girl that took care of us.”
It was a gesture that made Brandt cry with happiness. But the joy was short-lived because she was reportedly told by her manager that she was entitled to only 20% of the tip. The rest will be divided among the other workers.
When Wise heard about this, he went back to the restaurant to get the money back – then gave it to Brandt in full outside the eatery’s premises.
Again, Brandt’s happiness was short-lived because she was reportedly fired upon returning to the restaurant for a “policy violation.”
When they learned about what happened, Wise and his colleagues set up a GoFundMe page for Brandt — and it quickly reached over $8,700 in just a few days!
Restaurant’s Statement over the Tipping Incident
The restaurant released the following statement after the issue got big:
“After dining, this large group of guests requested that their gratuity be given to two particular servers.
We fully honored their request. Out of respect for our highly valued team members, we do not discuss the details surrounding the termination of an employee.”