An Arkansas waitress received a generous $4,4000 tip - only to be fired days later after her manager allegedly made her split it with other staff.
On December 6, waitress Ryan Brandt served a party of over 40 people at Bentonville's Oven and Tap. She was helped by just one other server.
When it came to paying the bill, each diner chipped in a $100 to say thank you.
Watch the moment Brandt received the tip in the video below:"We knew servers were really hit hard through Covid and it was something that we had come up with the help give back," one of the diners, Grant Wise, told CBS 5.
But to their shock, the money was swiftly taken away. Brandt's manager instructed her to pool the tip so it could be shared amongst the other staff who hadn't worked the table.
While policies like this are common in some restaurants, Brandt insists that in the three years she had worked at Oven and Tap, she had never been asked to share her tip money before.
The restaurant manager arranged for Brandt to receive 20% of the money. But when real estate company owner Wise found out what had happened, he demanded the tip be returned then gave Brandt her $2,200 share directly.
The next day, Brandt was let go from the business. She told CBS that the situation was "heartbreaking".
“They fired me from Oven and Tap over the phone and I’ve been there for 3 1/2 years and that was really heartbreaking. Especially because I didn’t think I did anything wrong," she said.
Oven and Tap responded in a statement claiming that Brandt was fired for reasons unrelated to the tip and maintaining that they had "fully honored" the diner's request.
“After dining, this large group of guests requested that their gratuity be given to two particular servers. We fully honored their request," read the statement, adding:
“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 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.”
“Out of respect for our highly valued team members, we do not discuss the details surrounding the termination of an employee," the statement continued.
After hearing that she had been fired, Wise was eager to help Brandt. A GoFundMe page started by him on the former waitresses' behalf has already raised over $8,700 to help her through the holiday season.
Watch Wise's reaction to the situation below:He's also been sharing her story in YouTube videos and calling out Oven and Tap for their staff treatment.
