A waitress thought she had the best night of her career when she received a jaw-dropping $4,400 tip. But just hours later, she was out of a job.
Back in December 2021, Ryan Brandt was working at Oven & Tap, a restaurant in Bentonville, Arkansas. That night, she and a coworker served a massive table of 40 business professionals from Witly, an automated ad platform.
As the dinner wrapped up, Witly’s CEO, Grant Wise, stood up to make an announcement. A video captured the moment he told Brandt something that left her speechless.
“Excuse me, I’m so sorry to disturb everyone’s dinner,” he began. Then, standing beside Brandt, he explained what was happening. “Tonight, we’re hosting a $100 Dinner Club.”
Every person at the table had chipped in $100 each for the servers. But that wasn’t all. After sharing the idea on social media, even more donations poured in.
“In total, we are tipping you $4,400 to split with your coworker,” Wise revealed.
Brandt was overwhelmed. Tears filled her eyes as she processed the kindness of complete strangers. But those happy tears wouldn’t last long.
A Shocking Twist
Brandt soon learned that her managers had no intention of letting her keep the tip. Instead, they demanded she hand over the cash and take home only 20% of it.
“I was told I had to give my money to my shift manager,” Brandt told KNWA News. She had worked at the restaurant for three years and had never been asked to share tips before.
When Wise found out about the restaurant’s demands, he wasn’t happy. He immediately asked for the money back—and then, outside the restaurant, handed it directly to Brandt. This time, she would keep every penny.
But when she returned to work, she was fired.
“Devastating” and Unexpected
Brandt was crushed. “I borrowed a significant amount in student loans,” she explained. “They were paused during the pandemic, but payments were restarting in January. It’s a harsh reality.”
She believed she was fired for telling Wise about the restaurant’s tip policy. However, Oven & Tap didn’t share details about her termination, only stating that they had honored the group’s request to tip their chosen servers.
But just when things looked bleak, the story took one more turn.
Kindness Strikes Again
Wise wasn’t about to let Brandt struggle alone. He launched a GoFundMe to support her through the holiday season, writing:
“I was hosting a $100 Dinner Club where each person at dinner tipped $100. It was a beautiful moment I’ll never forget. I am deeply saddened that she was fired. I don’t understand why, especially so close to the holidays.”
He described Brandt as a hardworking woman juggling two jobs to get by and shared that she had dreams of launching her own business.
“I hope we can all band together to show her that there are still good people out there,” he added.
And people did band together. The GoFundMe, which had an initial goal of $6,000, ended up raising a whopping $18,367!
It’s proof that in the end, kindness always finds a way.
