
US waitress was fired for posting a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit - blearyeyed
http://guardiancomment.tumblr.com/post/42024491123/chelsea-welch-the-us-waitress -who-was-fired-after
======
droithomme
The waitress's own accounting of the incident is exceptionally self serving
and false. The signature as originally posted was quite legible. Her original
accounting of the incident was completely fabricated because she didn't
actually serve the table, though she represented herself as if she did.

For example, the customer's name, Alois, is a man's name, but the customer was
actually a female with a male's first name. The waitress asserted that the
customer was a man. When she later found out she was wrong she backpeddled and
claimed she knew that but that she was protecting the customer's identity.
However she publicly posted the customer's name and location, enabling people
to track down the customer and begin threatening her.

Another detail she got wrong was claiming the customer left no tip. The
customer left the tip as cash on the table, as most people in the US do, and
something that most servers prefer, rather than pay it as part of the bill.
The restaurant also though double charged the customer for the tip, meaning
the customer ended up paying 36% rather than 18% on the bill as tip. Because
the waitress had not served the table she assumed that the strike out of the
tip line meant the customer left no tip at all.

In short, the waitress violated a customer's privacy, lied about the customer
publicly defaming her, publicly ridiculed her religious beliefs, and
instigated an internet mob riot against the customer which continues to this
day in the form of threats and harassment and has caused the customer severe
mental anguish. If I was an attorney in the area I would be preparing a large
lawsuit against the restaurant at this time, and I would certainly prevail in
court.

Her firing was completely justified and her complaining about being fired in
the media and claiming herself as victim when she was the bully is absolutely
outrageous.

~~~
zura
I personally don't get whole this tip tradition - just give me the check
stating the exact amount I have to pay. And give the appropriate salary to the
wait{er|ress}.

~~~
clicks
Thank you.

I find the power imbalance in these situations to be very uncomfortable --
half the time in the back of my mind I'm thinking to myself this waitress has
a big smile on her face because ultimately all she wants is a nice tip; the
smiley front is unauthentic. Just please give the servers and waiters a proper
salary and let me go on with my day.

The very idea of tipping to me is absurd and silly. What constitutes that a
service be tipped anyway? Doesn't the guy who spends 30 minutes explaining to
me how I should install my bathroom tiles at Home Depot deserve a tip? Or the
cooks in the backhouse -- who, arguably, have much difficult work to do than
servers/waiters? The immigrant dishwashers who never even get a chance to have
their common dignity affirmed at any step of the way -- because they're not
palatable enough in their looks and appearances to be seen by a customer? Or
the Sears cashier clerk who does me the favour of looking in the back
warehouse to see if the shoes I'm looking for are really not in stock -- and
then calls other stores to see if they have them, when he didn't have to do
any of that?

Just give them a nice salary. Don't try to guilt-trip me by bringing up how
they're paid "below minimum wage".

And, to put a startup spin on my post: there should be a site that rates the
ethical practices of stores/restaurants. Does the restaurant pay its
dishwashers a respectable salary? If yes, I will be okay and willing to pay a
little extra. If they don't: I'll happily never do business there again.

~~~
antihero
"Just give them a nice salary."

It's silly naive thinking like this...

Tips exist because they are a way for the customer to give a good server some
money directly.

Unless there was a cast-iron legal guarantee that the money from the
"automatic" tip goes _direct_ to all low-paid staff (servers and chefs), then
I want to be able to give my money to the server direct.

~~~
clicks
> Tips exist because they are a way for the customer to give a good server
> some money directly.

 _That_ is silly. Why is waiter work so unique that it's one of the very few
that requires this kind of payment? If you want to pay money directly, you can
do that for cashier clerks at gas stations, clothing stores, auto service men,
middlemen of all sorts in business offices, etc. etc. Why not pay them
directly too then?

What I'm arguing is that the tradition of tipping is something that should not
be. I would be okay with tipping in the most extraordinary of circumstances,
where the worker clearly goes out of his way to provide unexpectedly superb
service, but it should not be seen as necessary in other normal situations; I
don't see a really good reason why it has to be any different from other jobs.

As another commenter in this thread from Sweden pointed out: it works for
them. The norm is that waiters are not tipped. It seems to be working okay for
them, let it work in America too.

------
berlinbrown
I am surprised that everyone saw this from one side. I was making an argument
that the "pastor" has received a lot of undue criticism all because she made
ONE comment on a receipt after ONE meal. Now, her small 15 person church is
receiving a bunch of scrutiny and being mocked...from papers across the globe.
If the "waitress" did not POST the picture on the Internet then the pastor
would have been left alone. Is it possible the waitress overreacted to the
customer's one comment on tips?

It has been a while since I waited tables but we were always happy and
respectable to all guests, we didn't worry about a person NOT giving tips. We
were just glad for the visit. Did it ever matter? It is all about the
averages, you may get a good tip at one table and a bad tip at another. You
never disrespect the customer by trying to insult them online.

On religion and her being a pastor (of a 15 member church). Why should we
expect rational, conscientious behavior from some random pastor? The world is
shocked that she didn't want to give a tip and then made a reference a God
while doing so. It is religion, I don't expect thought-out, kind behavior from
religious people. Why should we? They are just people and are going to make
these kind of snide comments just like anyone else.

"In light of the situation, I would like to make a statement on behalf of wait
staff everywhere: We make $3.50 an hour. Most of my paychecks are less than
pocket change because I have to pay taxes on the tips I make."

She knows that if you make less than the non-server minimum wage then the
company is supposed to pay you the rest of the wages to meet the minimum wage
rate. So, they don't entirely make less than the federal minimum wage rate.
And I was a waiter, a lot of people didn't report ALL the tips that they
earned to avoid the taxes. Should we make sure she is being accurate in her
tax reporting?

~~~
rdtsc
> Why should we expect rational, conscientious behavior from some random
> pastor?

Because the attitude is (like it or not) Christians are better, they are
saved, and they go the extra mile to show that charity, giving, and compassion
are their main attributes. When a pastor writes that stuff on the check, it
comes out as very hypocritical to most people in this country.

This includes both Christians who are outraged because "she is doesn't
represent us" and also atheists who see this as an example of hypocrisy.

~~~
berlinbrown
I see it as a human acting human. There are 7 billion people, their behavior
is not predetermined.

------
jd007
Maybe people should be more careful about what to post online, especially
things that could reveal personal identities without the person's permission.

In this case the customer's signature is partially visible, which is not only
considered personal but can potentially also be forged to sign for credit card
receipts and legal documents.

Sure the life of a waitress is not easy but from the perspective of the
restaurant owner, I think the firing was justified. If she disagrees, she can
always sue for wrongful termination and let the court decide (which will cost
her money that potentially cannot be recovered should she lose).

~~~
pdonis
_the customer's signature is partially visible_

You're kidding, right? How could anyone possibly get any identifying
information from a few squiggles at the edge of a photo--much less enough to
perpetrate identity theft?

~~~
jd007
The point is not whether enough identifying information could be obtained this
time, but rather the fact that she (arguably) did not really consider that
when posting the image, and that she could do it again (and this time reveal
enough identifying information). Had she tilted the camera a bit further down
the whole signature would've been visible.

Imagine an employee in a company accidentally leaks some user data, which does
not really contain personally identifying information. I don't think it's
completely unjustifiable to fire this person even though no damage was done.

Of course the owners of the restaurant could've dealt with the situation a lot
nicer (warning her about the potential danger instead of firing her). But I
don't blame them for taking the more drastic measure that they did (not saying
that I would've done the same).

------
saraid216
Apparently it turned into a social media fracas:
[http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-
overnigh...](http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnight-
social-media-meltdown-a-photo-essay/)

~~~
berlinbrown
This is exactly why Applebee's fired the waitress. She wasn't fired because
the customer called the store. She was fired because she was the catalyst for
all of this bad publicity.

~~~
JDShu
What? I thought the bad publicity was caused by Applebee's firing her, not the
other way round.

~~~
berlinbrown
As a general rule, restaurant managers at these chain stores have to respect
the brand. According to Applebee's:

"Employees must honor the privacy rights of APPLEBEE’s and its employees by
seeking permission before writing about or displaying internal APPLEBEE'S
happenings that might be " considered to be a breach of privacy and
confidentiality..."

She was fired for breaching the the customer's privacy. And you don't normally
do that (putting information online) because this kind of shitstorm can
happen. They are probably sending a message to other employees, don't pull
this kind of stuff or you lose your job. Now look at the shitstorm we have to
deal with.

~~~
codeka
If she hadn't been fired, this whole thing would have been one obscure post on
reddit and an outraged customer - this kind of thing happens all the time.

If there's any lesson for would-be entrepreneurs, it's about how to handle
public opinion.

At this stage it really doesn't matter who was right and who was wrong (it
seems clear to me both parties played a part), but Applebee's handling of this
whole mess has been a study of what _not_ to do.

------
kristianp
Why is this on Hacker News? I can't think of any relevance it has to software
or entrepreneurship. This kind of thing should stay on Reddit, methinks.

I'm not going to flag it though, as it isn't spam.

------
daniel-cussen
_The person who wrote the note came across an article about it, called the
Applebee’s location, and demanded everyone be fired — me, the server who
allowed me to take the picture, the manager on duty at the time, the manager
not on duty at the time, everyone. It seems I was fired not because Applebee’s
was represented poorly, not because I did anything illegal or against company
policy, but because I embarrassed this person._

Incredible. How much money does this customer want to stiff this waitress out
of? Isn't paying nothing on a mandatory tip bad enough?

~~~
crymer11
While I wholeheartedly agree that the actions of the customer are absurd, I
would like to point out that in the US, courts have held that a tip is not
"mandatory."

~~~
chii
Restraunts should just charge the amount that is needed to pay their waitstaff
properly, instead of relying on a tip and make their prices look cheaper! A
tip is supposed to be extra money given the the waitstaff for services above
and beyond the call of duty.

~~~
berlinbrown
At least for me. Waiting was the easiest job with the most reward for the
least amount of work. Tax free in some cases because it was cash.

Our job was to essentially walk from one side of the restaurant to the other
side of the restaurant and meet drunk hot chicks. And they give you typically
10-30 dollars cash for doing so.

Hard work is standing behind a hot grill for $5-8 a hour, 10 hours a day
without the tips.

------
jeffdavis
"It seems I was fired not because Applebee’s was represented poorly..."

Actually, that is probably why she was fired. Saying something publicly about
a customer, especially in a way that could look bad for the customer, does not
reflect well on the restaurant.

If you interact with customers, it's your job at risk. The customer is
sometimes, but often not, risking much by being rude in one way or another. Is
it fair? Maybe not. But that's unlikely to be a productive discussion.

------
RenierZA
Pastor's apology: [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-
apolog...](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-
apologizes-687234)

    
    
      In a TSG interview, Alois Bell said that the online
      firestorm created by the receipt has left her stunned. 
      “My heart is really broken,” said the 37-year-old Bell.
      “I’ve brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.”

~~~
berlinbrown
It sucks she backed down so easily. She should have lawyered up.

------
callmeed
Our pastor showed this picture in church this morning. Didn't really get the
back story and some things still don't add up:

The picture on Reddit (linked to from this link) is cropped. I seem to
remember seeing the entire receipt.

Usually tips are only added automatically for large parties (>= 8) but this
bill was only $34. Makes no sense. Was this just 8 people getting iced teas?

------
bobdylan1
I wonder if that sweet sweet karma was worth it.

------
superk
Getting fired from Applebees is the best thing that could've happened to her.
That's divine intervention if I've ever seen it...

------
fleitz
Applebees PR dept should watch reservoir dogs, the problem is that no matter
how right you are, you look like an asshole.

Was it inexecusable? Certainly.

Does she make $3.50 an hour? Yes.

Does anyone find that an acceptable amount to be paid in the richest nation on
earth? No.

Do most people regard those that don't tip as assholes? Yes.

------
bulletmagnet
Well, on the bright side, she now has all the time in the world to spend on
Reddit.

------
doctorpangloss
I think it became a problem because only Mormons paid tithe, and it became a
charged comment.

~~~
btilly
Mormons are the best known example of it, but many Baptist, Pentecostal and
Brethren churches do the same thing. In all of those cases, where it happens,
I believe that 10% is the standard figure.

~~~
lancefisher
The word tithe means tenth, and it is the biblical standard of giving - a
tenth of your income. However, it's not related at all to tipping a waitress a
portion of your dinner bill.

~~~
krichman
Religious people that write things like that prefer rhetoric to reason. It's
in the same class of statements as "no monkey in my family tree." Sounds like
you've made a point but you have only made a sentence.

