The Arkansas waitress who was overjoyed after getting $4,400 in tips from a group of late-night diners was dismissed from the restaurant when she refused to split the money with the manager and other waiters. Ryan Brandt was adamant about keeping her 80 percent tip with the restaurant.
The CEO of a real estate company had brought his “$100 Supper Club” to the Bentonville, Arkansas, diner Oven and Tap for dinner with his buddies.
In an unexpected turn of events, she and the other waitress (who had to leave before the film was taken because she was sick) each earned $100 in tips, totaling $4,400.
“It was a great thing to do,” Wise said, “and to witness her reaction was awesome, to realise what that meant to her, the impact that it’s already had on her life.”
Brandt was urged by her superiors to split her tips with the other staff not long after she received it. She was suddenly allowed to take home only 20% of her tips for the first time in her three and a half years working there, she told FOX 59.
“I was told that I would be providing my cash to my shift manager and would be getting 20%,” she recalled.
“It was upsetting,” Brandt said, “since I had borrowed a large amount for student loans.” Because of the pandemic, most of them were turned off, but they’ll be switched back on in January, which is a hard reality.”
She planned to use the money to help pay off her student loans after splitting it with the other waitress. Wise, a Spanish major at the University of Arkansas, learned of the problem and requested the manager for their money, which he promptly returned to Brandt in front of the restaurant.
The owner of the eatery has refused to say why Brandt was fired.
After the incident, she was sacked for “violating” the guideline by informing Grant about what had happened.
Wise affirms that the restaurant does not have a tip-sharing policy, claiming that he called ahead to double-check. He requested two servers, one of whom had to depart early due to illness.
“Ryan is a good friend of mine, and I 100% guarantee she is the most worthy person of this kindness,” one of her pals said. We’ll never eat with you again, Oven and Tap!”
The “$100 Dinner Club” concept arose from a buddy who thought of how they might pay back to waiters who are most hardly struck by the virus.
Grant Wise, upon learning of the problem, decided to use his position to raise awareness about her condition and created a GoFundMe page for her. The campaign raised over $8,700 before it was shut down because the woman had found another job.
The restaurant was Wise and his wife’s favourite dining establishment, which is why they chose it.
“They did not phone ahead and ask about our tipping policy, nor did they email,” Mollie Mullis, co-owner of Oven and Tap, denied receiving a contact from Wise. We obeyed the customer’s request and gave it to the servers to whom they had asked us to disseminate it.”
