A Michigan waitress was fired after receiving a shocking $10,000 tip on a $32.43 bill, but the restaurant insisted the dismissal was a ‘business decision’ unrelated to the generous tip.
Linsey Boyd, a Michigan mother who received the astonishing tip, was let go from the Mason Jar Cafe in Benton Harbor despite generously sharing the money with other eight coworkers.
Boyd said in a now-deleted Facebook post that drama ensued after an anonymous customer left behind the $10,000 tip to honor a recently departed friend.
The middle-aged man in a dark suit wished not to be identified, but said he was in town for the funeral and intended to spread some cheer through the generous gratuity, according to Detroit Free Press.
‘I just gave him a hug. I didn’t even know his name at that point, but I gave him a hug. He then told me he left her a memorial of someone very dear to him and he wanted to do something kind and generous in her name,’ Boyd told WSBT.
Linsey Boyd, a Michigan waitress was fired after receiving a shocking $10,000 tip on a $32.43 bill, but the restaurant insisted the dismissal was a ‘business decision’ unrelated to the generous tip
The middle-aged man who left the tip wished not to be identified, but said he was in town for the funeral and intended to spread some cheer through the generous gratuity
The restaurant owners Able Martinez and Jayme Cousins (pictured) said ‘labor laws’ limited what they could share about the termination of Boyd
Boyd, a Michigan mother who received the astonishing tip, was let go from the Mason Jar Cafe in Benton Harbor despite generously sharing the money with other eight coworkers
What was supposed to be an upbeat story has taken a negative turn, as Boyd revealed in her viral post that she lost her job because of ‘all of the drama, animosity and hurt’ that ensured from the massive tip.
The restaurant owners Able Martinez and Jayme Cousins said ‘labor laws’ limited what they could share but claimed that the termination of Boyd had nothing to do with the $10,000 tip.
‘We cannot comment on the nature of her losing her job due to labor laws and to protect the staff involved,’ the couple wrote in a Facebook post.
‘However, I will say it had nothing to do with the tip. She did receive the entire tip, she did not pay taxes on it (the business did). Yes, she shared the tip at the request of the man that left it,’ they continued.
But Boyd offered her side of the story, saying she was asked to take mental health day as ‘drama’ unfolded inside the restaurant because of the tip.
‘Drama ensued, and in an attempt to diffuse the situation and resolve any rumors, things became even worse,’ she wrote.
She did not specify what happened and has since deleted the post and taken her entire Facebook page down. But rumors have circulated, suggesting the staff who was not working that day may have expected to share the tip.
‘The staff that was not working the day of the $10,000 tip expected to be cut it and created an extremely dramatic work environment,’ a post reads.
What was supposed to be an upbeat story has taken a negative turn, as Boyd revealed in her viral post that she lost her job because of ‘all of the drama, animosity and hurt’ that ensured from the massive tip
The restaurant owners Able Martinez and Jayme Cousins said ‘labor laws’ limited what they could share but claimed that the termination of Boyd had nothing to do with the $10,000 tip
Boyd offered her side of the story, saying she was asked to take mental health day as ‘drama’ unfolded inside the restaurant because of the tip
According to Boyd, the management asked her to take another day off ‘for things to settle down,’ and did not respond to her text asking if she was told ‘in a professional way to not come back.’
Boyd was fired through a phone call on Tuesday, marking the first time since the age of 15 that she finds herself without a job.
As the desperate waitress shared her experience, social media users have become infuriated, leaving negative reviews on the restaurant’s page and Google Maps.
An angry user shared screenshots of Boyd’s post and wrote: ‘This is NOT what our community is about. Linsey honored the tippers wishes & shared this act of kindness when many would’ve kept it to themselves.
‘I have personally worked with her & she is one of the most kind & generous humans I have ever met,’ they continued.
‘SHAME ON YOU & SHAME ON ALL OF THE EMPLOYEES who complained that they didn’t get a cut when they were NOT working. How selfish can you be?! I hope this is made right!’
The restaurant owners have since refuted Boyd’s claims but refused to go into details about why she was terminated.
‘I know there is a lot going around that we let her go because of the tip and that’s just not logical,’ Cousins told WOOD-TV.
‘We have a staff that has continued to work for us for years and college kids that come back every summer and we give chances after chances to our staff, so we clearly would not let someone go for no reason at all.’
The owners wrote on social media that it was a purely business decision, emphasizing that such decisions are not ‘made lightly or hastily’.
‘We give donations for college funds for them, we kept them employed through Covid, we do everything in our power not to lose staff,’ the owners wrote.