Server who received £8,000 tip from customer is fired but owners defend decision

17 February 2024 , 19:10

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Server who received £8,000 tip from customer is fired but owners defend decision

A waitress was given the shock of her life when she received a massive £8,000 tip from a kind customer, only to be left shocked again days later when she was sacked out of the blue.

Linsey Bond was given the boot just days after being handed the generous $10,000 tip at the Mason Jar Cafe in Benton Harbour, in southern Michigan. Ms Bond was serving at a table when the anonymous customer left the giant tip for a bill that cost under £30. The man, who didn't want to be known, left the money in honour of his friend whose funeral he had been in town for. He requested Ms Bond split the gift between the entire waiting staff, meaning they all had just over £1,000 each.

However, just days after making the tip, Ms Bond was sacked from her job. After a backlash online, the restaurant hit back saying her departure was nothing to do with the huge donation, but was purely a "business decision". The Mason Jar Cafe is owned by husband and wife Able Martinez and Jayme Cousins.

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Linsey Bond was overcome with emotion when she received the tip

Taking to Facebook to defend themselves and their company, the pair said: “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. But Boyd has since made claims drama had begun to unfold inside the restaurant after the tip was made and she was asked to take a mental health day that Sunday.

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In a now-deleted social media post, the waitress went on to claim she was told to take the following day off as well and she got in touch with the restaurant on Monday she was told "in a professional way not to come back". On the Tuesday she was fired by phone call.

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An anonymous man who was in the town for his friend's funeral left this generous tip for staff

Miss Bond explained: “One week I’m such an amazing, hardworking employee, awesome mother … couldn’t have happened to a better person. Now, I’m without a job, for the first time since I was 15 years old.” These claims have been rejected by the owners who said they couldn't go into details due to labour laws.

The duo said: "We do truly care about our staff. We’ve had the same crew for 5-6 years. We have college girls that come home every summer and have been for four years now, we take our staff up north at the end of every summer season, we give donations for college funds for them, we kept them employed through Covid, we do everything in our power not to lose staff.

Manager Tim Sweeney

“I know there is a lot going around that we let her go because of the tip and that’s just not logical. 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.”

Ms Cousins said the decision didn't come lightly as they don't like firing employees but it was "purely a business decision". The fired employee has since left the town to "spend time with her family," local media reports.

A Michigan waitress who received $10,000 tip from customer in honour of dead friend was fired just days later

Tim Sweeney, general manager at Mason Jar Cafe, told the Detroit Free Press that the tip was real and the sacking of Lynsey was just bad timing. He said she was fired after months of policy violations and conversations.

Sean McPolin