Applebees Fires Waitress For Posting Tip Photo

From Huff Po: Be careful what you post on Reddit. It may just get you canned.

Earlier this week, an Applebee’s waitress posted a photo on Reddit of a receipt from an alleged pastor who, instead of leaving the suggested 18 percent tip, wrote “I give God 10%, why should you get 18.” Now, after the bill went viral, Applebee's has fired the waitress, according to Consumerist.

“I thought the note was insulting, but it was also comical," the waitress, whose name is Chelsea, told Consumerist. "I posted it to Reddit because I thought other users would find it entertaining."

Apparently once the receipt hit the Internet, the supposed pastor forgot the Golden Rule of “love thy neighbor” and called the Applebee’s where Chelsea works to demand that she and all management involved be fired.

Scroll down to see the receipt

In an email sent to The Huffington Post, Applebee's spokesperson Dan Smith wrote:

Our Guests’ personal information – including their meal check – is private, and neither Applebee’s nor its franchisees have a right to share this information publicly. We value our Guests’ trust above all else. Our franchisee has apologized to the Guest and has taken disciplinary action with the Team Member for violating their Guest’s right to privacy. This individual is no longer employed by the franchisee.

The pastor is not the first to write an excuse on a receipt to get out a hefty tip on a bill. A single mom recently opted out of a tip on a restaurant bill for close to $140 by simply writing, “single mom sorry.” Another Applebee’s customer in Edison, NJ, wrote “stop eating bitch!” on the receipt rather than leave some gratuity for his server.

Our colleagues at HuffPost Comedy have started a petition with hopes of convincing Applebee's to rehire Chelsea.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Comments

[danny b]

There is also a petition at change.org

http://www.change.org/petitions/applebee-s-and-truth-in-the-word-deliverance-ministries-give-chelsea-welch-her-job-back-and-fire-pastor-alois-bell

[danny b]

there are 2 more

https://www.change.org/petitions/applebees-give-chelsea-welch-her-job-back

http://www.change.org/petitions/applebee-s-re-hire-chelsea-welch-2

[NC Tony]

Why would she want the job back? I sure as hell wouldn't. Even if they did hire her back, she'd have to walk on eggshells because management would be looking for any excuse to fire her, or alternately, they could wait till the attention to this dies down and then quietly fire her with some other bullshit excuse.

[Kess]

Bull, she shouldn't get her job back. She wasn't even the waitress that served that group; she was a coworker of the one who did and took the receipt and posted it online, a violation of Applebee's policy and really a d-bag move to begin with.

It doesn't matter how you view the Pastor; this waitress was still in the wrong and she deserved to be fired.

[Techtyger]

Applebees response on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/applebees/posts/10151390415294334

Amounts to 'she took the picture and posted it, friends (of the pastor) identified her signature which was clearly shown, the restaurant was contacted, waitress was fired in accordance with social media policy provided when she was hired'.

[Skittles]

First off the policy is fucking ridiculous and our government needs to get off their asses and learn how to deal with this bullshit. The concept that any employer should have the right to punish employees for what they do in their off time is stupid beyond comprehension. It seriously starts to cross the line between employing and owning people.

[danny b]

The policy says "up to and including termination" so she could have just gotten a warning. Also there are examples of pictures of receipts and customers that did not result in termination out there.

[NC Tony]

Let us not forget this idiot pastor wanted EVERYONE fired. Not just the server in question, but everyone who was working that day, including the managers. Frankly, I'm glad she's been embarrassed and humiliated all over the internet.

[Michael Chandra]

Applebees claims they didn't have a choice, while the policy is indeed "up to and including", so they HAD a choice. That fake pastor had it coming.

Also, since then Applebees has been pulling all their positive-feedback receipt pictures off the web... But nobody got fired over those, no of course not.