Applebee's Fires Waitress For Social Media "Tipping" Fiasco

Reddit

On Wednesday Reddit User "gateflan" posted the above picture to the Reddit Atheist forum. The waitress posted the picture which is signed by a pastor who asks: "I give God 10%, why do you get 18?" When posting she made the comment: "My mistake sir, I'm sure Jesus will pay for my rent and groceries."

The waitress in question has been identified only as Chelsea and she has informed Reddit today that she was fired by Applebee's for the ensuing firestorm that is sweeping across social media outlets in recent days.

At Applebee's, along with most other dining establishments, when your party consists of 8 or more people the register automatically adds a 18% gratuity to the bill. It also leaves an option for any additional tip. On the 18% gratuity the customer scratched out the $6.29 tip and wrote 0 in the additional tip area.

Shortly after the picture was posted angered users began investigating the story. Chelsea explained to The Consumerist that she originally posted the image as a "lighthearted joke" and didn't intend for anyone to find the customer, or to contact Applebee's. However when she posted the image she failed to redact the signature thus allowing users who were investigating to discern the pastor's name and later his address and phone number. Chelsea claims she failed to hide the signature because to her it was illegible.

“I had already started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and blogs and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer,” she recalled. “I refused to confirm any of them, and all of them were incorrect. I worked with the website moderators to remove any personal information. I wanted to protect the identity of both my fellow server and the customer. I had no intention of starting a witch hunt or hurting anyone — I just wanted to share a picture I found interesting.” Raw Story (http://s.tt/1zcGQ)

On Wednesday the pastor contacted Applebee's and demanded that the waitress as well as the managers at the restaurant be terminated immediately

“When I posted this, I didn’t represent Applebee’s in a bad light,” Chelsea explained. “In fact, I didn’t represent them at all. I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn’t break any specific guidelines in the company handbook — I checked.”

“But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee’s has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than lose an angry customer. That’s a policy I can’t understand.”

Chelsea also added that she was "utterly baffled" that someone would connect Christian tithing to tips that wait staff rely on to pay their bills.

“I’ve been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time I’ve seen the Big Man has been used as reasoning,” she said. “If this person wrote the note, obviously they wanted it seen by someone… It’s strange to me that now that the audience is wider than just the server, the person is now ashamed.”

The pastor has been revealed by Redditors to be Pastor Alois Bell. Bell has since released a statement apologizing for the firestorm:

“My heart is really broken,” said the 37-year-old Bell. “I’ve brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.” 

The January 25 meal came after an evening service at the Truth in the Word Deliverance Ministries church, said Bell, who added that five adults and five children were in the group that dined at Applebee’s (a traditional post-service destination for church members). The subsequent bill was divided up amongst the parties. 

Bell, seen above, said her notation on the receipt was a “lapse in judgment that has been blown out of proportion.” Despite scratching out the tip added to the bill, Bell claimed that she left a $6 tip in cash, adding that she subsequently discovered the 18 percent gratuity had been charged to her credit card.