A waitress who received a $10,000 tip at a restaurant in the coastal town of Benton Harbor (Michigan) earlier this month has been fired, according to local NBC News station in that area on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Mason Jar Café co-owner Jayme Cousins explained in an email to WOOD that the waitress' dismissal had nothing to do with the money received: "I know there's this idea going around that we let her go because of the tip." And that's not true".
Cousins recalled that, although state labor laws prohibit disclosing the reasons for dismissal, his restaurant has received year after year “young people and university students who return every summer” to work there.
“We give opportunity after opportunity, so clearly we wouldn't let someone go for no reason,” she explained.
He added that he always “tries to avoid layoffs at all costs,” but, he added, this case was due to “purely a business decision.”
Cousins did not reveal the identity of the waitress, but local station WSBT said it interviewed her after receiving the tip and identified her as Linsey Boyd.
The restaurant's Facebook post counting the tip was deleted.
Noticias Telemundo has not been able to independently confirm the waitress' dismissal or information about the tip received.
A tip that went viral
On Monday, February 5, a Mason Jar Café customer named Mark left a $10,000 tip on a bill of $32.42.
The man explained that he was doing it to honor the death of a friend and that he was in town to attend his funeral, according to WSBTV.
[A California restaurant's unusual tip requirement reignites a debate that has become thorny]
“I gave him a hug.
“I didn’t even know her name at the time, but I gave her a hug,” Boyd told WSBT.
“Then he told me that he had left him a memory of someone very dear to him and that he wanted to do something kind and generous in his name,” he added.
Restaurant manager Tim Sweeney added that he felt “absolute disbelief” and that the staff there went crazy because the largest tip amount they usually see is no more than $100.
“I spoke with the client
and he confirmed that he wanted to leave that amount as a tip
,” he explained then.
Waitress Paige Mulick, who was also working that day, said that what she experienced on that Monday, which is usually the slowest day, “was really an act of kindness.”
At the time, Sweeney explained that the money was divided into nine parts among all the workers, receiving just over $1,100 each.
Mulick then explained to WOOD that his share was going to pay off his student loans.
“I will reduce the interest as much as I can,” said the waitress, who appreciated that her colleagues could also have financial relief.
Sweeney then explained that it takes “many, many, many months” for the restaurant to collect $10,000 in tips.
“Any time you can lend a hand and change someone's life, whether it is a small or big act, it is very important to keep it in mind.
“A little goes a long way,” said the manager that day.