Featured Image Credit: WSBT-TV/Instagram/Mason Jar Cafe
Topics: Michigan, Social Media, Money
Emily Brown
Topics: Michigan, Social Media, Money
A Michigan waitress has shared an explanation for why she ended up losing her job after being given a $10,000 tip from a generous customer.
Linsey Boyd was on shift at the Mason Jar Cafe in Benton Harbour, Michigan earlier this month when a customer came in and racked up a bill of $32.
In normal circumstances, the tip for such a bill would be expected to range somewhere around $3-$6. But when the man left, he left a tip of $10,000.
No, that's not a typo.
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The man asked to remain anonymous but revealed he was in town for a friend's memorial service, and wanted to honor his friend with the good deed.
Boyd had been waiting on the man at the time and agreed to share the tip between her co-workers, as the man requested.
Another server, Ana White, commented: “We’re all super grateful for it. I’ve worked here for six years, and I’ve never seen, I’ve seen big tips, but I’ve never seen $10,000.
"So, that was very kind and nice of him to do that because, I mean, we’re all different and we all have different backgrounds, but we all are going through something different so that amount of money helped us all a lot.”
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However, just a few days after the man left the tip, Boyd was fired.
Social media posts emerged about her departure from the cafe, and alluded to a toxic atmosphere which had arisen in the cafe in the wake of the tip.
In an interview with The Guardian, Boyd's attorney, Jennifer McManus, claimed kitchen staff at the cafe felt left out after they were not given any of the tip.
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She claimed Boyd, who also uses the surname Huff, had gone to her managers to inform them of the upset, but they allegedly wanted to know who had a problem with the way the tip had been split.
In response, Boyd allegedly said: “I’m not going to give any of their names … because I don’t want to create a bigger issue. I would just like some assistance in getting this resolved.”
As a result, the lawyer claimed, Boyd was allegedly fired for refusing to name any of her coworkers.
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The waitress shared a post on Facebook about the alleged firing, saying that she was told not to come in on the Monday morning, and that she received a call the following day to be told she was 'fired'.
“One week I’m such an amazing, hardworking employee, awesome mother … couldn’t have happened to a better person,” Boyd wrote. “Now, I’m without a job for the first time since I was 15 years old.”
The owners of the Mason Jar, Abel Martinez and Jayme Cousins, have claimed that the firing was unrelated to the tip.
In their own Facebook post, they insisted the decision to let Boyd go was not 'a decision made lightly or hastily'.
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“We do truly care about our staff,” the post said, adding that the same crew has worked at the company for 'five to six years'.
"We do everything in our power not to lose staff," it added.
UNILAD has contacted Mason Jar Cafe for comment.