A $4,400 tip led to this waitress losing her job

Ryan Brandt has worked as a server at Oven & Tap, a restaurant in Bentonville, Arkansas for 3 and a half years now. The events that follow occurred on the faithful night of December 2nd. 

It all started when Grant Wise, who is the president and co-founder of a company that helps real estate agents advertise on Facebook, decided to take his party of 32 clients for dinner at Oven & Tap. Wise and his wife had previously enjoyed many meals at Oven & Tap of which Brandt, who was their server, was a huge part. They wanted to share the same experience with their clients, they chose the restaurant for seating of the $100 Dinner Club, whose participants agree to each tip $100 at establishments across town. Wise had also called the restaurant beforehand to request Brandt to be their server. 

After the meal was done Wise tipped Brandt a total of $4,400 in a grand fashion. Brandt was overwhelmed by the kindness. The tip was to be split between her and others servers who served Wise's party. After receiving the tip, Brandt's manager informed her that she couldn't keep all of the tip money because it had to be split between bartenders, cooks, and food runners who helped with the meal. This had never been done before, nevertheless, Brandt obliged. According to Brandt's lawyers, 7 percent is automatically deducted from the employee's paycheck to pay the aforementioned staff. Brandt went back to Wise to thank him for his generosity while explaining that she might not get to keep the money. Upon hearing this Wise spoke to the owners and tipped Brandt separately in cash. At the end of the night, she walked out with $2,200 according to the restaurant. On December 7th Brandt was told that she was fired for telling Wise about the restaurant's tipping policies. Later on Friday, the owners of Oven & Tap threaten to sue Brandt in a cease-and-desist letter claiming that the entire incident and her activities had permanently damaged the reputation of the restaurant. People who haven't even visited the place were giving them 1-star reviews for mistreating their employees. 

When Wise found out that Brandt was fired he immediately set up a GoFundMe campaign to help her finances while she's unemployed. The page raised a total of $8,700. As the campaign grew Brandt also got a job as a server at another restaurant. 

Source: The Washington Post