The Michigan server who earned a $10,000 tip was dismissed because she refused to report her coworkers who complained about not getting a cut, alleging the owners threatened to sue for “her entire estate,” according to her lawyer. Linsey Huff, better known as Boyd, took the massive gratuity off a $32.43 bill from a customer at the Mason Jar Cafe while visiting the area for a friend’s funeral earlier this month. The unidentified individual who left the now-viral tip in memory of his late buddy requested that the $10,000 be divided among the service personnel, with eight of the servers walking away with around $1,200 each.
The disgruntled back-of-house staffers had become angered with Huff for not getting a piece of the nearly 31,000% tip, and drama soon unfolded
The kitchen staff at Benton Harbor restaurant, however, felt snubbed from the generous gift. The disgruntled back-of-house staffers had become angered with Huff for not getting a piece of the nearly 31,000% tip, and drama soon unfolded, causing problems within the staff. Huff reportedly had gone to management to assist with calming the drama, but her bosses wanted to know who was causing the issues. “I’m not going to give any of their names … because I don’t want to create a bigger issue,” Linsey Huff said according to her lawyer Jennifer McManus, who spoke with the Guardian. “I would just like some assistance in getting this resolved.”
“One week I’m such an amazing, hardworking employee, awesome mother … couldn’t have happened to a better person,” Huff’s post reportedly read. “Now, I’m without a job, for the first time since I was 15 years old.” Huff allegedly received a phone call from a Mason Jar manager, telling her the restaurant had retained attorneys to file a lawsuit against her unless she deleted the Facebook post. McManus claimed the threat was enough for Huff to erase the post, that “truthfully” documented the firing, and the restaurant’s threat also included them suing “for her full estate.” “She kind of chuckled [at that] and said, ‘Well, good luck – I’m a waitress. There’s not an estate here,’” McManus told the Guardian.
The restaurant fired her because she refused to provide the identity of her angry coworkers
McManus said that the restaurant fired her client because she refused to provide the identity of her angry coworkers. After being fired, the divorced mother of two resorted to social media to shed light on the drama that occurred before management asked her to take that Sunday off as a mental health day, according to the Detroit Free Press, citing a now-deleted Facebook post. Huff also stated that she was requested to take Monday off, before asking whether they were instructing her “in a professional way not to come back.” She was dismissed by phone on Tuesday.
Cafe owners Able Martinez and Jayme Cousins refuted the claims and said Huff’s termination was “purely a business decision.” Management at the Cafe became angered with Huff for posting about her firing and refuted her claims by saying Huff’s termination had nothing to do with the tip, and it was “purely a business decision.” “I will say it had nothing to do with the tip. She did receive the entire tip, but she did not pay taxes on it (the business did). Yes, she shared the tip at the request of the man that left it,” Martinez and Cousins wrote on Facebook. “We do truly care about our staff,” the post added. McManus slammed the restaurant’s ownership for firing Huff, pointing out the fracture between food service management and their employees.