Waitress fired for accepting huge $3000 tip and refusing to share it with the rest of the team – but she says they didn’t do any of the work
- An American waitress said she was fired after accepting half a $US4,400 tip
- Ryan Brandt, from Arkansas, and another waitress waited on a party of 40 guests
- The tip was meant for the two servers but management wanted to pool it
- After guests asked for a gratuity refund they offered Brandt the money outside
- She said she was fired for telling a guest in the group their tip would be pooled
A waitress in America said she was fired after accepting half of a $6,158 tip from a group of guests she and another server had been waiting on.
Ryan Brandt from Arkansas told KNWA she and another waitress had been serving a party of more than 40 people who all chipped in a generous $100 each to tip the two servers.
Ms Brandt, who is from America, said the restaurant asked her to share the tip with her co-workers – meaning she would only be taking home a small percentage of the gift rather than half.
American waitress, Ryan Brandt said she was fired after accepting a large tip from a guest she had been serving
‘I was told that I was going to be giving my cash over to my shift manager, and I would be taking home 20%,’ she said.
In her three and a half years working for Oven and Tap, she said she had never been asked to pool her tips with her colleagues.
Grant Wise who was part of the group Ms Brandt was serving told KNWA that the party’s tip was not intended for the restaurant staff who did not wait on them.
He asked for a full refund on the tip when he found the two servers would have to give most of their money away and gave Ms Brandt the cash later outside.
A 40-person party left a $4,400 tip to be split between Brandt and the other waitresses that had been serving the group however management wanted it split between all staff
After the incident, the waitress said the restaurant fired her, leaving her cash strapped and unable to pay her bills.
‘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,’ she said.
She said management let her go because she violated the restaurant’s policy by telling Mr Wise she would have to pool her tips with the rest of the staff.
Brandt said the restaurant, Oven and Tap, fired her for disclosing information to the guest about splitting the tip with her co-workers
According to KNWA, Oven and Tap declined to confirm whether this was the reason for Ms Brandt’s dismissal and offered a small statement saying they had honoured the guests’ request to split the gratuity between the two waitresses.
Oven and Tap owners Mollie Mullis and Luke Wetzel later released a statement denying Brandt was terminated because she chose to keep the cash from Mr Wise and his party and that the other servers involved with the group are still members of the team.
Mr Wise has now started a online fundraising campaign to help Brand with her expenses.