Waitress fired for posting this online

DamnImASexyBitch

People who can't afford to tip don't deserve to go out and enjoy such services plain and simple. Stay home and cook your own meals or do your own hair. The people who are trying to make you happy LIVE off those tips!

She shouldn't have posted private transaction information and that's why she was fired. She could have ranted about it, but not posted the picture and still had her job.

apriltrainer

Wow a pastor wrote that? Hmm..maybe if Christians helped the poor and struggling and supported hard working people barely making a livable wage, she wouldn't need a tip. UNTIL the Christian community practices what they preach, they better TIP. And tip well.

This pastor has more than likely lost a chance to share the gospel with her. How about putting a tip inside a tract or something? My pastor would do that all the time. Sure maybe it won't get read..but eventually..maybe..the waitresses would remember the pastor that always came in with a tip and tract and that would lead her or others to seeking out Christ from GOOD memories of their encounters with Christians.

This pastor missed an opportunity to witness and share his faith. God will hold him accountable.

kenhelms17720

Note the signature.

Ginsey31

As a Christian, I also find this offensive. If I went to this pastor's church, I'd find another. First, the pastor is rude and doesn't know how to live as a reflection of Christ. Being a generous tipper is much more Christian. Second, the pastor is stupid. I don't want to have a stupid person in a role where they're teaching me. She gives 10% of her income. The waiter gets a percent of the bill, not the customer's income...

As a preacher's kid, I completely agree with this^^ Kindness and generosity are traits Christians should exemplify. I would be ashamed to know that my pastor did this.

That said, I do understand why the waitress got fired. I think it is truly unfortunate, but she retaliated in a way that crossed a legal line according to restuarant policy.

fougamou

So what if instead of Applebee's she worked at a pharmacy and instead of an embarassing tip she was posting a "OMG look what this customer takes" receipt picture. Same exact thing. Be a professional no matter what your job is. Take the good with the bad. You simply cannot throw a public trantrum everytime something pisses you off at work. If you do eventually you're employer will determine you don't like your job and will find someone else who does like your job to replace you.

No it is not the same thing. HIPAA is a federal law that covers the privacy of medical information. It is illegal ofr a doctor's office, hospital, pharmacy, etc, to disclose medical information without authorization.

I am not aware of a similar law covering credit card receipts. Is it inappropriate, yes, Can an employer fire you for it, yes. But, unlike medical information, not illegal.

OddballExtreme

No it is not the same thing. HIPAA is a federal law that covers the privacy of medical information. It is illegal ofr a doctor's office, hospital, pharmacy, etc, to disclose medical information without authorization.

I am not aware of a similar law covering credit card receipts. Is it inappropriate, yes, Can an employer fire you for it, yes. But, unlike medical information, not illegal.

This is true. It's not illegal to post it. I think what companies need to do is show exactly what the privacy policy states, since it differs from one company to another. Employees need to understand posting on a public forum can make them subjected to violating that privacy policy. It would almost be like me posting everything I do at my job, which I know I can't with a very strict confidentiality policy. (For the record, I work for a yearbook company, and we get a letter about this every year to reinforce that policy.)

witchy_wife

Here in the UK tipping is different. Minimum wage for waiting staff is the same minimum wage that other professions have. The standard here is 10%, there are a few places that will add it automatically to the bill, but if you cross it off, they cannot charge you that.

Having said that, I am usually too soft and find it difficult not to leave a tip, even if the service and food has been appalling.

The Pastor was obviously being deliberately rude. There was no need for it and it certainly doesn’t seem a Christan thing to do at all.

However, if the company do have a privacy policy and the waitress broke that then yeah she should be fired. The company I work for have a very clear social media policy and if I was to go posting things up on Facebook about my work and they found out I could definitely be fired for it.

Oh and I am quite sure that she must have broken some rules that count as gross misconduct, as if not, it would be very easy for the waitress to sue for unfair dismissal. A lot of companies now make sure they are 100% covered about things like this in their policies.

jnh17

i didn't read every post, but i wanted to clear something up up:

the waitress DID get a tip. since the pastor's party was more than 8 people, an 18% gratuity was added automatically. this is pretty standard practice in US restaurants. the pastor crossing it out and writing "$0" didn't change that.

that being said: the pictures i saw of the receipt didn't show the pastor's name. i'm assuming that Yahoo! edited it out, and that the full name was posted on reddit. i can understand that that is a huge violation of privacy, even if there is nothing in the Applebee's handbook about it. should the waitress have been fired? probably not, without an actual rule or procedure in place within the organization. but i can understand why they arrived at that conclusion.

and let's not pretend for a second that this pastor feels bad for what she did or actually wants to apologize. she got called out for using God's name as an excuse to stiff a hard worker, and that's unexcusable in my book.

i feel really bad for the waitress, and i hope she is able both to find a job with customers and supervisors who treat her better in the future, as well as exercise more discretion in these types of situations.

Oh yes you can refuse to pay the gratuity -- just because it's typed out all nice and pretty on the check doesn't mean the customer is *required* to pay it.

drchimpanzee

So what if instead of Applebee's she worked at a pharmacy and instead of an embarassing tip she was posting a "OMG look what this customer takes" receipt picture. Same exact thing. Be a professional no matter what your job is. Take the good with the bad. You simply cannot throw a public trantrum everytime something pisses you off at work. If you do eventually you're employer will determine you don't like your job and will find someone else who does like your job to replace you.

No it is not the same thing. HIPAA is a federal law that covers the privacy of medical information. It is illegal ofr a doctor's office, hospital, pharmacy, etc, to disclose medical information without authorization.

I am not aware of a similar law covering credit card receipts. Is it inappropriate, yes, Can an employer fire you for it, yes. But, unlike medical information, not illegal.

I didn't say it was illegal. I just think she is wrong. As you said, it's up the employer to take care of it. I'm sure Applebees has a business ethics section in their corporate manual. Pretty sure posting a customer's receipt is a no no.

SeaRunner26

If the customer chose not to tip, then that's just the way it is. Life isn't fair. In the end, the waitress did use bad judgement since clearly it cost her a job, which is much more than a six dollar tip. Life lesson hopefully learned.

hypotrochoid

Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Deuteronomy 24 14-15

Stuff that in your craw, Pastor.

oohh2Bskinny

I read that this was actually only part of the bill. There were about 20 people in the party, the folks commented on how great the waitress was... and since it was over 8 in the party, the 18% was automatic ... it wasn't warranted to write that or to fire the waitress.

lour441

The tip is irrelevant. As soon as the server posted the customer name and merchant id number I would have fired her *kitten*.

If Applebees didn't fire her they were basically telling their customer base if you eat here and a server is not happy with your tip it might get posted online and we fully support that breach in privacy. It would lead me to wonder what other reasons Applebees would allow breaches in privacy... Thanks.. I will go eat somewhere else.

rml_16

So what if instead of Applebee's she worked at a pharmacy and instead of an embarassing tip she was posting a "OMG look what this customer takes" receipt picture. Same exact thing. Be a professional no matter what your job is. Take the good with the bad. You simply cannot throw a public trantrum everytime something pisses you off at work. If you do eventually you're employer will determine you don't like your job and will find someone else who does like your job to replace you.

HIPAA does not cover waitresses and food tabs. Not thecsame thing.

The Constitution says THE GOVERNMENT cannot infringe on citizens' privacy. The waitress morally violated privacy, but what she did was not illegal. A lot of people in the US really need to take a civics class ASAP. However, as I stated before, Applebees has a right to fire her for actions that reflect poorly on the company.

lour441

I will also point out that the 18% was still charged to the cardholder's card. The server was paid a tip. They basically outed someone for a snarky comment they wrote on their receipt.

k8blujay2

It's the people that don't tip that prompted the "gratuity" charge in the first place (thanks all you stingy *kitten* people)... But to be honest, if a gratuity is charged I just don't add an additional tip, because you already just got it, you just didn't allow me to choose to give you 10% or 50%...

_Witsy_

Posting private information and making a spectacle? I would have fired her too. The last thing I want is for people to consider not coming to one of my restaurants because they feel they can't trust the staff.

This. Be real, folks.

I'll also add...I tip based on how you treat me...so I wonder...how did this interaction go anyway? No one is required to leave an additional tip. Is that sometimes rude? Can be. Is it sometimes warranted...? YUP.

Either way...posting this online is unprofessional and most likely goes against any kind of ethical policies of the company.

The waitress got a tip. The pastor chose to not give her anything additional...snide remark to leave on the receipt? Sure.. Get over it.

TylerJ76

Posting private information and making a spectacle? I would have fired her too. The last thing I want is for people to consider not coming to one of my restaurants because they feel they can't trust the staff.

This. Be real, folks.

Word.

Fox_n_sox

ALSO....the girl who was fired wasn't even the one who posted the picture. Another coworker posted it... smh

perfectingpatti

Posting private information and making a spectacle? I would have fired her too. The last thing I want is for people to consider not coming to one of my restaurants because they feel they can't trust the staff.

This. Be real, folks.

Seriously. I can't believe people are defending the waitress here.

The pastor's comment was rude, but she didn't stiff the waitress.

Those who don't get the "10% to God" thing- That's the amount the Church asks parishoners to donate. We're asked to give 10% of our annual salaries. It was an inappropriate comment made by the pastor.