On Thursday, a waitress in Arkansas informed Nexstar’s KNWA that she was dismissed after guests left her and another server a combined gratuity of $4,400 for their services.
The Oven & Tap restaurant in Bentonville is where Ryan Brandt has worked for three and a half years, according to KNWA. She and another server were in charge of serving a group of over 40 people at the time, according to Brandt.
According to Brandt, who spoke with KNWA, each individual in the group left a $100 tip at the end of the service, for a total of $4,400 in tips for the servers.
Brandt informed the publication that the restaurant had requested that she share her gratuity with her coworkers, a practice that she said had never occurred while she was employed at Oven & Tap.
As Brandt explained to KNWA, “I would be bringing home 20 percent.”
Grant Wise, who was a member of the 40-person group, told KNWA that he only intended to reward the servers who served him and not the others at the table. According to Wise, who spoke to KNWA, he sought a refund for the cash and handed it over to Brandt outside the restaurant.
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Brandt informed the source that she had been fired from her job as a result of accepting the payment and that the experience had been “devastating.”
According to KNWA, Brandt claimed that Oven & Tap informed her she had been dismissed because she divulged information to Wise regarding splitting the tip with her employees, which was a violation of the restaurant’s policy.
In response to Insider’s request for comment, which was submitted outside of normal business hours, Oven & Tap did not immediately react.
According to KNWA, Oven & Tap has declined to comment on the cause for Brandt’s resignation from the company.
Oven & Tap told KNWA that “after dining, this large group of diners demanded that their gratuity be delivered to two specific servers,” according to the restaurant. “We complied with their request in full. We do not discuss the specifics of termination with our highly valued team members out of respect for them and their contributions to the company.”