An Arkansas waitress was tipped a jaw-dropping $4,400 tip but got fired after her boss made her split the money with other staffers, reports say.
According to Fox 59, waitress Ryan Brandt and another server received the generous gratuity on December 6, when they were serving at a party of more than 40 at Oven and Tap in Bentonville.
After being served, each diner had generously tipped $100, believing the total would go to both servers.
One of the party-goers, Grant Wise, told CBS 5 during a conference that waitresses were really hit hard through the pandemic, and it was something that they had come up with to help give back.
However, the restaurant’s manager told Brandt to split the money with her co-workers who didn’t work at the large party. Brandt told Fox 59 in an interview that it was unprecedented in her nearly four years working there.
Brandt told the network that she was instructed to give the cash to her shift manager and that she would be taking twenty percent of the money home.
When Wise found out about how the money was going to be shared, he immediately demanded the restaurant return the tip money — then turned over $2,200 directly to Brandt.
The restaurant fired Brandt the following day.
Brandt was heartbroken when she told CBS 5 that she got fired from Oven and Tap over the phone after being there for 3 1/2 years, noting that she didn’t think I did anything wrong.
However, Oven and Tap said in a statement that they fired Brandt for another reason that is not related to the tipping incident and that the restaurant “fully honored” the generous tippers’ requests to reward the pair of servers at their party.
In addition, the restaurant said it does not discuss the details surrounding the termination of an employee out of respect for its highly valued team members. However, they respected the large group of guests’ request that their gratuity be given to two particular servers who served at the party.
“The server who was terminated several days after the group dined with us was not let go because she chose to keep the tip money,” the restaurant added. “The other two servers who received generous tips that evening from the Witly organization — including one who also received $2,200 — are still members of our team.”
In response, Wise created a GoFundMe page for Brandt, and as of Monday morning, the page has raised over $8,700.
Speaking about losing her job, Brandt said:
“It was devastating, I borrowed a significant amount for student loans. Most of them were turned off because of the pandemic but they’re turning back on in January and that’s a harsh reality.”
