BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (WOOD) — A Michigan waitress who was fired eight days after a customer she served left a $10,000 tip says it was because of discord stemming from the tip, according to her attorney.
Earlier this month, a generous customer left the massive tip, telling staff at the Mason Jar Cafe in Benton Harbor it was in memory of a friend who had recently passed away. At the time, the restaurant told Nexstar's WOOD-TV the tip was split nine ways among the coworkers for more than $1,100 each.
Eight days after receiving the tip, Linsey Boyd, a waitress at the cafe and a mother of two, was fired. She has since hired Jennifer McManus to be her attorney after the restaurant allegedly threatened to sue her for defamation.
"They don't have a leg to stand on. They are using their position of power to threaten and intimidate her," McManus told WOOD. "It's a really sad thing."
The defamation allegation came up after Boyd shared her side of the story on Facebook the night of Feb. 13, the same day she was fired.
In an earlier email to WOOD, Mason Jar Cafe ownership said Boyd's firing was not affiliated with the tip but would not provide any additional details, citing labor laws.
But according to McManus, a co-worker told Boyd that staff members working in the back of house and those on different shifts were upset the tip wasn't shared with them. Boyd went to management and ownership about these concerns, but refused to share the name of the co-worker when asked.
"Linsey understandably anticipated that sharing that person's name could just create a bigger issue. So, she was really caught in a tough position: She'd either share the person's name, which could create a bigger issue, (or) she refused to share the person's name, which ultimately seems is what led to her termination," McManus explained. "In the meantime, all she was trying to do was a) share the tip as the customer requested and b) diffuse the situation so everyone could just get back to work."
About a half hour after Boyd's Facebook post started to go viral, McManus said a manager called the waitress, recommending she take it down. WOOD is choosing not to name the manager.
An excerpt from that phone call had the manager telling Boyd that the owners "actually have every right now to sue (her) and (her) entire estate" for defamation. When Boyd answered with, "Good luck, I ain't got much," the manager said: "Yeah, but they'll take everything you've got."
"She's not responsible for the public perception," McManus said. "She's responsible for ensuring that the words she speaks are truthful, which she did. And if the public chooses to perceive it differently, she has no responsibility for that."
WOOD asked to interview Boyd on camera, but that request was denied.
McManus forwarded a message her client wants everyone to know:
"One thing I want made clear is how I didn't want any of this," Boyd wrote in her Facebook post. "And more than anything, I want others to know that as humbling as all of this support has been, I just truly don't want others reacting to my situation with more hate, anger or animosity -- It solves nothing and there are still innocent, hardworking people in that building who will be the ones suffering, and I don't want that."
The cafe's owners said they did not make the decision lightly, that firing an employee was "something we always try to avoid at all costs," and that "in this case it was purely a business decision."
McManus said Boyd is still unemployed and looking for work with a schedule similar to her last job, given her two children. She added Boyd does not intend to pursue legal action.