If a waitress in Arkansas had received a whopping $4,400 tip from the ” $100 Dinner Club,” it would have been a dream come true. However, when the restaurant management informed Ryan Brandt that she could only keep 20% of the tip and the rest would be shared among other staff members, it turned into a nightmare. Brandt, who had hoped to use the money to pay off college debts, was ultimately fired for defying the restaurant’s tipping policy.
The ” $100 Dinner Club” members, organized by local real estate business owner Grant Wise, gathered at the Oven and Tap in Bentonville, Arkansas, to dine together. Each participant contributed a $100 tip for the occasion.
Before the event, Wise made it clear to the restaurant that the tips should not be split among the staff. When Brandt was handed a check for $4,400, she was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, but her excitement quickly turned to tears as the manager insisted on dividing the sum among the entire staff.
When the restaurant management learned about the substantial tip Brandt received, they instructed her to share a portion of it with other restaurant staff—a request she had never encountered in her three and a half years of working there.
“I was told to hand over a portion of my cash to my shift manager and only keep 20%,” Brandt explained to FOX 59, emphasizing that such tip-sharing had never been standard practice during her tenure at the restaurant.
Brandt, who is in her early 30s and studies Spanish at the University of Arkansas, had planned to use the tip money to pay off her college debt. However, she was left devastated when she was compelled to hand over the majority of the sum to her superiors.
After a few days, Brandt was terminated from her position at the restaurant for allegedly “violating” its policies by disclosing its tipping practices to Wise. The rule she broke was sharing information about the restaurant’s tipping policy with Wise.
Wise observed the hardships faced by restaurant waitstaff, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. Motivated to make a difference, he conceived the idea of the ” $100 Dinner Club.” While hosting a real estate conference in Arkansas, he arranged for the gathering to be held at the beloved Oven and Tap restaurant.
Wise and his wife proceeded with their plan after ensuring restaurant management that there was no policy in place regarding tip sharing.
The heartwarming gesture took a somber turn when Wise discovered that the restaurant managers had mandated Brandt to divide her tip among the other staff members, leading to her subsequent termination. Unable to speak directly with the restaurant owner, Wise resorted to texting her instead.
Returning to the Oven and Tap restaurant to retrieve his money and personally deliver it to Brandt, Wise was shocked to learn of her dismissal. On December 7, he took to social media to share the incident.
On the GoFundMe page, Wise expressed his sole intention: “My only desire is to help her get through this experience with the least amount of stress and anxiety possible and onto whatever her next chance may be.”
Recently, Wise provided an update on his social media platforms, revealing that Brandt received a new job offer from another restaurant and commenced work there on December 8.
With a total of $8,700 raised, Grant Wise made the decision to conclude the GoFundMe campaign.
Watch the video below and please SHARE this heartwarming and inspiring story with your friends and family on Facebook.