Waitress fired after receiving massive $4,400 tip from customer

At this point, it feels like you just can't win - if you don't tip you're criticized, if you give a 'small' amount you're cheap and now if you give a large one you'll get the waiter fired.

This is what happened at the Oven & Tap restaurant in Arkansas back in 2021, following an evening of gruelling work for Ryan Brandt who had taken care of a table of more than 40 business executives.

She did such a stellar job that they very generously gave her a huge payout of $4,400, with the moment caught on camera by one of the dinner’s attendees, Rebecca Soto.

Soto subsequently uploaded the video to Instagram with the heartwarming caption: "I'm humbled to have been part of something so beautiful and generous. To bless someone else without previously knowing them."

She continued: "I have been blessed, so it is wonderful to pay it forward and bless someone else.

"God bless all who contributed and the servers who received it. I pray it may be multiplied and impact their life for the better."

The viral video shows businessman Grant Wise giving the massive tip to Brandt.

"Everybody at this table has contributed or tipped $100 for you, and for the other waitress, who unfortunately had to go home because she wasn't feeling well," he told the waitress.

"And then we put it out to our social media channels, and we actually had quite a bit more money sent in. So we are tipping you a total of $4,400 for you to split with the other girl that took care of us."

Brandt thanked the table at every opportunity, and was left in tears by the touching gesture.

However, her elation was very much short-lived as she was fired not long after.

The waitress later revealed to KNWA News: "I was told that I was going to be giving my cash over to my shift manager, and I would be taking home 20 percent."

She also told the outlet that she had been working at Oven & Tap for over three years and was never instructed to share her tips with her co-workers before.

Once Wise found out about the news, he allegedly asked for the money back, Distractify reported at the time.

After getting the tip back, the diner then gave it back to Brandt but outside the premises this time to ensure she would keep every last cent of it.

The server claimed she re-entered the restaurant only to find out she had been fired for taking the money - something Oven & Tap has denied.

Brandt told the local news station: "It was devastating.

"I borrowed a significant amount for student loans. Most of them were turned off because of the pandemic, but they’re turning back on in January and that’s a harsh reality."

As per KNWA, Oven & Tap owners Mollie Mullis and Luke Wetzel said in a statement: “We commend the organization that dined with us and generously gave to our staff. They have an absolute right to tip whoever they want, and we honored that request.

“Oven & Tap doesn’t deliver terminations lightly. Because we value our employees and highly respect their privacy, we never discuss personnel issues. The server who was terminated several days after the group dined with us was not let go because she chose to keep the tip money. The other two servers who received generous tips that evening from the Witly organization - including one who also received $2,200 - are still members of our team.

“Oven & Tap has always been committed to providing fair and quality compensation to all members of our restaurant team. We recognize and regret that a recent incident in our restaurant could have been handled differently by reminding our team how we would be splitting any tips prior to the event, however, our policy has always been to participate in a tip pool/share with the staff. Tip sharing is a common restaurant industry practice that we follow to ensure all of our team members are adequately compensated for their hard work.”