Applebee’s fires waitress who posted receipt from pastor complaining about auto-tip

[Gardenlady]

Thanks button wasn't enough, I wanted to single out Steely and Gitana for excellent posts, and for standing up for workers, throughout this thread. So thank you both!!! :blowkiss:

 

[*~Aimee~*]

also, eight people and a $34 bill?

she had them break it down to avoid the 18% tip. So instead of 1 big bill they broke it down for her into several.


http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Loca...ing-pastors-tip-comment-online-189402981.html

The server said Bell was dining with a party of 20 on Jan. 25 and asked to have the $200-plus bill broken up into smaller increments to avoid paying the paying the automatic 18% tip.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=360087

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/busines...s-who-posted-nontipping-pastors-check-online/

Welch pointed out that as a waitress at Applebee’s she earned $3.50 per hour and that with her tips, she made on average $9 per hour — $1.65 over Missouri’s minimum wage of $7.35 per hour. Typically, tips acquired by waitresses are shared among hosts, bussers and bartenders.

In a story posted today on the Guardian’s Comment is Free section, Welch said that once she realized Bell’s signature was legible, she worked with the Reddit moderators to remove all identifying information from the receipt, including that of her Applebee’s colleagues. But within a few days, Applebee’s fired her.

“There is nothing in the employee handbook or rules against what she did,” the petition stated.

http://youtu.be/t1-bhKg7cvA video of pastor Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries of St Louis , Pastor Alois Bell

 

[TrackerSam]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/applebees-waitress-fired-pastor-receipt-193820748.html

"I give God 10%," Bell wrote on the receipt, scratching out the automatic tip and scribbling in an emphatic "0" where the additional tip would be. "Why do you get 18?" (There were more than eight people in Bell's party, triggering the auto-tip.)...[/I]

This person should not be a minister. So this minister writes that note and only cares because more than the people at Applebees saw it. I can't believe that the minister didn't ask Applebees to not fire the waitress. JMO

His 10% is a donation not a tip and to whom does he give it to? :waitasec:

 

[gitana1]

gitana-- you are an attorney: does chelsea have a claim for unfair dismissal with evidence of the receipt posting double standard?

No. It's unlikely that she would have such a claim. Essentially, most states are "at will" states which means a person can quit and a person can be fired, for any reason or no reason at all. The only exceptions are public policy violations like being fired for race, gender, sexuality, age, etc. Now, if someone asserts their free speech rights out of work, like they are involved in a protest, firing them for that would probably be a public policy violation, unless they used the company name or wore identifiable company clothes in the protest.

In this case, this gal invoked the name of Applebees without their permission so she was fired. You can't do that.

Of course, a person can be a whistle blower or protest the bad acts of their own company and have a likely claim for wrongful termination in that case, if they are fired as a result, but that's not what happened here. Instead, the worker criticized a customer using the company name and allowing the customer to be identified which is a huge no no.

In the case of the company posting the back of the receipt with a customer name on it, (without permission), the company can decide to break its own policy but if an employee does so, they can be fired. Also, the company was not criticizing the customer like this gal was.

Thanks button wasn't enough, I wanted to single out Steely and Gitana for excellent posts, and for standing up for workers, throughout this thread. So thank you both!!! :blowkiss:

Aww, you're welcome. I sadly sense a lot of disdain for workers. I don;t get that at all. Blue collar workers are what made our country great. And it's funny how people scream about illegal immigration and then poop all over the workers who are actually here legally, for doing the very jobs the illegal immigrants are happy to do.

So basically, we don't want people from other countries coming here to do the work but when our own people do it, we treat them like lepers who struggle through some social darwinistic fault of their own.

Yes, I'm a lawyer but I was a blue collar worker for years as were my parents. Not everyone has the opportunity to climb out of that strata of the workforce and frankly, there is nothing wrong with it! We need such workers to allow our country to function. They should be respected. At least they are trying to put food on the table.

His 10% is a donation not a tip and to whom does he give it to? :waitasec:

Good question. Especially since Alois Bell is the pastor of the church!!!!!! Does she pay herself?

 

[Steely Dan]

No. It's unlikely that she would have such a claim. Essentially, most states are "at will" states which means a person can quit and a person can be fired, for any reason or no reason at all. The only exceptions are public policy violations like being fired for race, gender, sexuality, age, etc. Now, if someone asserts their free speech rights out of work, like they are involved in a protest, firing them for that would probably be a public policy violation, unless they used the company name or wore identifiable company clothes in the protest.

In this case, this gal invoked the name of Applebees without their permission so she was fired. You can't do that.

Of course, a person can be a whistle blower or protest the bad acts of their own company and have a likely claim for wrongful termination in that case, if they are fired as a result, but that's not what happened here. Instead, the worker criticized a customer using the company name and allowing the customer to be identified which is a huge no no.

In the case of the company posting the back of the receipt with a customer name on it, (without permission), the company can decide to break its own policy but if an employee does so, they can be fired. Also, the company was not criticizing the customer like this gal was.



Aww, you're welcome. I sadly sense a lot of disdain for workers. I don;t get that at all. Blue collar workers are what made our country great. And it's funny how people scream about illegal immigration and then poop all over the workers who are actually here legally, for doing the very jobs the illegal immigrants are happy to do.

So basically, we don't want people from other countries coming here to do the work but when our own people do it, we treat them like lepers who struggle through some social darwinistic fault of their own.

Yes, I'm a lawyer but I was a blue collar worker for years as were my parents. Not everyone has the opportunity to climb out of that strata of the workforce and frankly, there is nothing wrong with it! We need such workers to allow our country to function. They should be respected. At least they are trying to put food on the table.



Good question. Especially since Alois Bell is the pastor of the church!!!!!! Does she pay herself?

:goodpost:

 

[Donjeta]

Do you think she really tips God 10 % every time? Maybe she reduces His tip too if she's not satisfied with the service.

 

[SwampMama]

I saw the interview with the pastor and she struck me as a rather ignorant person. She and her group always go to Applebee's after services so she knew the policy, which is why she probably asked for separate checks and was probably miffed when doing that didn't absolve her of the group based gratuity. If she didn't like their policy then she should have stopped going there.

She lied and said she left a cash tip but Applebee's said she didn't. She had nerve enough to want EVERYONE working at Applebee's when she was there fired. She has a lot of nerve. As someone who was formerly homeless, she sure doesn't have a bit of humility or compassion for people.

Frankly, I wonder what kind of jobs she has held in her life. She didn't strike me as very well spoken or as a gifted speaker.

Now she reports that people have dropped out of her church over this (not that there were very many to begin with). Out of her party of 10 people at the restaurant, 5 were kids.

I hope her next job is a server and all of her customers are people just like her.

 

[Roselvr]

Person claiming to be pastor leaves waiter note: ‘I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?’

This is her own church. She is the Pastor at her own church; the whole church of 20 members goes to this Applebees every week. I wonder how many servers have been stiffed by her.

Chelsea repports that she made 3.50 an hour at Applebees. She said with tips, she averaged usually less that 9 dollars an hour. Servers basically live off of tips. the 2 or 3 dollars an hour they make usually goes to taxes.

The IRS assumes that a server makes 15% or more on everything they serve and taxes/charges the servers an automatic 8% of all of their sales. For instance, I serve a table and their bill comes to $100 and they don't leave a tip. The IRS assumes that I got my tip and I have to pay taxes on that, so it actually cost me money to wait on that table.

(I worked as a restaurant manager and server so I doled out tips and such at the end of the night and did paperwork with servers declaring their tips). Plus most places expect the server to pay out a portion of tips to the workers who bus (clean up) tables

Plus there are hours of work that the server makes NO tips on such as prep work and cleanup (filling ketchup, salt, pepper containers, etc) before and after restaurant opening.

Prep work & clean up are part of the job & if not done; I don't doubt people would adjust their tip to reflect that. There is nothing worst then sitting at a dirty table that has equally nasty menu; condiments & napkin holder if it applies. There is a 10 ways to avoid the flu; they said that the above items are not washed down which in turn spreads germs.

The restaurant industry needs a huge overhaul. It outrages me that the corporation as a whole can bring in massive profits; yet they're allowed to stiff employees on a fair wage. I would love to see a bill where corporation owned restaurants (& other similar paying establishments) be forced to pay at least minimum wage. It's fair.

Respectfully, I think it's all of our concern when CEO salaries are so high that regular worker's wages and benefits have to be reduced to ensure such salaries. I also think it is all of our concern when the same companies paying their CEOs revolting salaries, later get bailed out by our government.

I have a bad taste in my mouth for my hub's ex employer of 28 years. He was just feeling better after his stage 4 cancer treatments when the company decided to let go our bread & butter. If that wasn't bad enough; they set the wheels in motion that made it look like the workers were the reason the owner operators lost their jobs. They kept company drivers instead.

The biggest issue was they had been allowed to file bankruptcy; the workers lost 70 million (IIRC) that the company was supposed to buy new equipment with; but did not. A year down the road; they turn around & are "forced into bankruptcy" because one of their creditors wants to be paid. The last time I looked; the bankruptcy judge was deciding if they would be allowed a restructuring bankruptcy to clean their slate (again). In the mean time; 2 years later; my hub is out of his Union job.

Had we not had savings; our home would be gone. Thankfully our truck was paid for. Our friends; not so fortunate. I really hope the judge thinks before deciding.

I am amazed at the number of people who do NOT realize that the Servers earn LESS THEN MINIMUM WAGE.

Technically Servers all received "minimum wage" but "minimum wage" for servers includes tips. Servers are to get $7.15 per hour but that includes tips. Since servers are expected to get tips, the store owners can pay them less, under Federal Law they only have to pay $2.13 per hour, the remaining $5.02 is to be made up in tips. Some states have different laws, to see what they are where you live see: http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped2012.htm

This is abused by a lot of restaurants, a lot of servers tell me they do NOT get minimum wage, and when they complain to their boss, their boss tell them it is they fault for NOT providing enough service. The Restaurant owners are known NOT to make up the difference between what servers actually get in tips and minimum wage (even through by Federal Law they are suppose to), but that is another story.

If you don't want to be obligated to leave a tip, then ask your Congressmen to pass a law requiring restaurants to pay at least minimum wage. The way the system is now set up, by not leaving a tip, you are contributing to the poverty of the servers - which costs us all.

When I go out to eat I leave a minimum of a 20% tip, more if the service is very good and more at cheap restaurants than at fancy ones. At the cheap places, the food costs less, but the servers do just as much work on average. If I can't afford to tip, I don't go out to eat.

Tipping used to mean great service. Something is seriously wrong that it always comes back to the consumer. The staff also needs to speak out against bad businesses who stiff their employees when they're supposed to make up the difference.

We actually do not go out to eat because no matter where we go; the price of the food/tip is not worth the quality (taste) of the meal. I'll spare everyone our horror stories; it's unreal that no matter where we've gone in this "new" town; it is a similar experience. I can cook better at home cheaper. I will say my biggest peeve is the waitress being attentive to the man assuming they're the one paying.

 

[Perodicticus potto]

Do you think she really tips God 10 % every time? Maybe she reduces His tip too if she's not satisfied with the service.

Best. Comment. EVER. :floorlaugh:

 

[Steely Dan]

Best. Comment. EVER. :floorlaugh:

Nominate it for post of the year.