An Arkansas waitress received a whopping $4,400 tip, only to be fired after her manager made her split it with other staffers. The generous gratuity came on December 6, when waitress Ryan Brandt and another server worked a party of more than 40 at Oven and Tap in Bentonville, Arkansas. Each diner had chipped in $100 in tip money — believing the total would go to both servers. But the restaurant’s manager instructed Brandt to pool the tip with her co-workers who didn’t serve the large party, in an arrangement she said was unprecedented in her more than three years working there. When one of the generous tippers, who owns a real estate company, found out, he demanded the restaurant return the tip money — then turned over $2,200 directly to Brandt. Brandt was canned the next day.
… In a statement, Oven and Tap said Brandt was fired for reasons unrelated to the tipping incident and that it “fully honored” the generous tippers’ requests to reward the pair of servers at their party. The restaurant said: “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 [group] — including one who also received $2,200 — are still members of our team.”
One of the diners, Grant Wise, set up a gofundme for her to help her out.
'My only goal is to help her get through this experience with the least amount of stress and anxiety possible and onto whatever her next opportunity may be.'
On Thursday, Wise posted an update saying Brandt was offered a job at another restaurant, and began work on December 8.
He shut down the fundraiser on Saturday, after it surpassed $8,700.