Waitress Fired After Receiving $4,400 Tip

Servers and their tips can be contentious – depending on the restaurant. Some restaurants are totally cool about it. Others are like Oven and Tap in Bentonville, Arkansas. One waitress was fired after receiving an exceedingly generous tip of $4,400 from a large table. In most worlds, this would be heartwarming news – just in time for Christmas. But at Oven and Tap – ‘waitress fired after too big a tip’ is the headline they’re going for. 

Waitress Ryan Brandt received a $4,400 tip courtesy of a ‘$100 Dinner Club” organized by local real estate company owner Grant Wise. $100 Dinner Club gathers a bunch of diners where each attendant leaves $100 towards a tip. Generous, right?

Gotta Give The Restaurant Its Cut

Brandt was one of two waitstaff that night who served a party of over 40 people. She was blown away by the kindness. She was going to go home with $4,400 in cash. In her three and a half years at Oven and Tap she has never had to split tips. 

Then, all of a sudden, the restaurant’s tip policy changed. 

“I was told that I was going to be giving my cash over to my shift manager, and I would be taking home 20%.”

Grant, seeing how the intention of the $100 Dinner Club was being stolen by a greedy shift manager, took the tip back and instead gave it to Brandt in the parking lot outside. 

For that, Brandt was fired. 

Out Of “Respect”

When approached for comment, Oven and Tap had this to say: 

“After dining, this large group of guests requested that their gratuity be given to two particular servers. 

“We fully honored their request. Out of respect for our highly valued team members, we do not discuss the details surrounding the termination of an employee.” 

Sure, Jan. 

Thankfully, this story ends well. Ryan received $8,000 in a GoFundMe and scored a new job as a server at a nearby restaurant. 

Oven and Tap on the other hand, is just another example of why antiwork is rising in popularity.