Server Left Jobless After Restaurant Fires Her Over $4,400 Tip Incident
When you go out to eat at a restaurant, it is customary to tip your servers.
A group of people in Arkansas thought that they were doing a nice gesture by leaving a large tip for their server. Little did they know it would leave her without a job! Here's the story.
Real Estate Company Owner Grant Wise
Grant Wise is the president and founder of his own real estate company.
His company has grown in size and it has led to him becoming a successful businessperson in the industry.
Organized $100 Dinner
During a recent company event, Wise organized a "$100 dinner."
Everyone at the dinner had donated $100 to be pooled together as a tip for their servers. Wise invited the server over to the table to explain the evening to her.
Money Was For Her
It was around the halfway point of his speech that Wise told the server, Ryan Brandt, that the table and their social media followers had raised $4,400.
The money was to be split between the two servers who were looking after them that night.
Overcome With Emotion
Brandt was instantly overcome with emotion and broke down into tears.
The restaurant erupted with cheering and clapping. That would be quite the bonus to receive in just one night.
Money Was Hers
Brandt was given the money right away and again told that she was to split it with the other server.
Right away, Brandt knew that this generous tip would help her to pay her student loans.
Restaurant Fired Her
All of the good vibes came to a screeching halt when the shift manager told her that she would have to share the tip with all the workers.
She told Wise about this and was fired from her job for telling him as they said it violated the rules of their tip policy.
Started A GoFundMe Page
Wise was confused when he heard that Brandt had been let go.
He started a GoFunMe page with the hopes of being able to help with her expenses for a little while as she got back up on her feet and found a new job.
Paying It Forward
The internet was gracious with their donations, and soon $8,700 was raised for Brandt.
They've also decided to keep the fund open and anything over the $8,700 will go toward the group's next $100 dinner club event.
Teen Loses Job After Donating Leftover Donuts To The Homeless
A simple trend on TikTok is where we begin this story.
People were filming what a day in their life at work looks like, and Bryan joined in by posting a video of all his closing duties at his job at Dunkin' Donuts.
There Was Something Alarming About The Video
He explained how it made him sad to throw out all this food at the end of the day.
He also shared that they emptied all vats of coffee and tea into the sink as well.
That's A Lot Of Food
He said he could keep some of it if he wanted, but really, how much Dunkin' Donuts can one person eat?
It made a lot of people feel like there was a problem here that needed addressing.
A Lot Of People Suggested Donating The Food
People in the comments on his viral video all suggested the same thing: pack that food up and donate it to those who could use it and would be grateful for some free food.
Why let it all go to waste when there's nothing wrong with it?
So, That's Just What He Did
One night, he filmed himself packing up two bags, one that said "thank you for your service" and one that said "for a brighter future."
He took the first bag to his local fire station and the second he handed out to a group of homeless people in need.
But Not Everyone Was Receptive
It wasn't long until Bryan was posting on Tik Tok saying that his "stunt" of packing up the leftover food and donating it was wrong and he was fired for doing it.
It seems that the popular chain wasn't happy with what Bryan had done.
He Was Obviously Upset
He stated that it was clear to him that Dunkin' was in the wrong here.
How could the corporation not care about people and what they could potentially offer them?
Dunkin' Said They Encouraged People To Be Involved In Their Community
It turns out that Dunkin' Donuts encourages people to be involved and do things like Bryan does, but ultimately left it up to the owners of individual stores to decide. So it was just Bryan's store that wasn't pleased with the situation, but it's still a frustrating situation.
Should he have been fired for doing something to better his community?
TikTok Rallied To Send Bryan Some Support
People started donating money to Bryan so that he could stay afloat until he was able to find another job.
But in typical Bryan fashion, he wanted to do something nice with all that money people had been donating to him.
He Bought Some Donuts For Health Care Workers
Don't worry, they weren't from Dunkin' Donuts.
These tasty donuts came from Krispy Kreme, which Bryan and many of us can agree are the better donuts when it really comes down to it
The Whole Ordeal Sparked Quite The Conversation On Twitter
The story didn't just stick to TikTok though.
One Twitter user wanted to make sure that this story got out there for people to see who might not have TikTok because it's part of an important conversation we should all be having.
People Said It's A Common Occurrence
There were a lot of people in the comments sharing similar situations that they had experienced, and not just working with food.
There were even stories of hygiene products and clothing being tossed.
Many Pointed Out The Policy Didn't Make Sense
It's true that if you go into a lot of chains like this at the end of the day, they'll load you up with goodies because they are going to close soon.
They're looking to get rid of the food anyway so why shouldn't it go to people who need it most?
Some Places Would Give It Away If Asked
There were people telling stories of times they were able to ask companies for "uglies" which are products that were not suitable to sell.
If you can give them away to people who ask for them, why not donate them?
Companies Want To Protect Themselves
It's easy to see that a lot of these rules are likely put in place by corporations or franchise holders to protect themselves from getting in trouble somehow...
Or to prevent from having to do a lot of extra work.
People Were Saying Because It Makes Them Liable
If they donate food and someone gets food poisoning or has an allergic reaction, then they're on the hook for those medical bills and possibly a lawsuit.
That makes sense, right?
Well, It Actually Isn't True
According to this Twitter user, there is a law in the United States that protects corporations who donate goods and foods from such lawsuits as long as the donation is made in good faith and the food was in an edible condition at the time of donation.
So corporations can't claim that this worry is what's stopping them.
Stale Donuts Won't Kill You, Right?
How many times have you gone into a shop and received a donut or a muffin or even a cup of coffee that you know is older than it should be??
Probably more than once.
Not All Companies Are As Bad
Thankfully, there were some stories in the thread from people who worked for companies that had no problem donating food at the end of the day, so that was refreshing to see.
Some Suggested Doing It Anyway
People in the comments were saying that the only mistake Bryan made was posting about it online, otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten caught and he could have kept doing what he was doing.
There must be a middle ground to be found between not donating or having to do it in secret.
