ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

Man leaves whopping $10,000 tip at Michigan cafe. But it didn't end well for waitress

The man told the server that she was free to share the amount, thus the tip was split nine ways
UPDATED OCT 1, 2024
Cover Image Source: Getty Images |  LightFieldStudios
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | LightFieldStudios

Servers at a restaurant in Benton Harbor, Michigan, were left stunned after a man left a $10,000 tip. The manager of the cafe named Mason Jar, which hosted the generous tipper earlier this year, told The Hill that the tip was left on a $32.43 bill. While it would've been great if the tip was left only for the exceptional service, the manager, Tim Sweeney, clarified that it was for a heartwarming reason.

Representative Image | Unsplash | Photo by Dan Smedley
Representative Image | Unsplash | Photo by Dan Smedley

The customer, who identified only as Mark, left the 30,835% tip on one of the slowest days of the cafe. Naturally, the tip amount shocked the manager who went to confirm with the customer if he intended to tip so much. 

“We went back and forth. I had a conversation with him. He wanted to proceed. [The waitress] was absolutely shocked," Sweeney told The Hill.

The customer also explained to the staff the reason behind his five-figure tip. Mark told them that it was in memory of a friend who had passed away recently. He added that he was in town for the funeral. 



 

Mark had told the server that she was free to share the amount, thus the tip was split nine ways, with each worker getting $1,100. One of the servers, Paige Mulick, told the publication that she was going to put the money towards her student loan. However, things took a rather sour turn a few days later.

Waitress Linsey Boyd, who received the enormous $10,000 tip, was fired from her job days later according to the Detroit Free Press. In a now-deleted Facebook post, the owners of the cafe stated that her firing had nothing to do with the tip. 



 

Mason Jar café co-owner Jayme Cousins also told News 8 via an email that they couldn't provide the full details as they were bound by labor laws. 

“I know there is a lot going around that we let her go because of the tip and that’s just not logical,” Cousins wrote in the email. The co-owner further added that it was purely a business decision.

However, the server, Boyd, had a very different story to tell. In conversation with WNDU 16 news, Boyd shared that the workplace had become toxic as some of the workers were not happy with the way the tip was split. 



 

Those who did not get a share were unhappy and Boyd said she could sense the animosity. She told the outlet that the issue was even taken up with the management, for them to deal with the negativity.

However, to her surprise, the management dealt with it by firing her.  

She added that she will never forget what her manager told her. “It was still getting a lot of publicity and attention, and the best way to calm the situation and to move forward was for me to not come back,” she recalled the owner saying.



 

Naturally, Boyd took to Facebook to talk about her firing. However, she alleged that the management asked her to take the post down and threatened her with legal action. While Boyd cooperated and deleted the post, she did hire a lawyer to look into her case, she told the outlet.

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
Barbara Corcoran made the exact same offer, and she wasn't happy about being rejected.
2 hours ago
The guest believed that it was worth a modest amount of money, but that was clearly not the case.
3 hours ago
With James Holzhauer in the lead, Amy Schneider and Andrew He decided to joke around.
4 hours ago
Barbara Corcoran told the founders that she had never seen Greiner so passionate.
6 hours ago
The guest said that it was left to her by her grandmother who passed at the age of 102.
1 day ago
The host was quick to latch on to his way of speaking and made a mockery of it on TV.
1 day ago
The contestant was clearly just happy to win the chance of being on the same stage as Drew Carey.
1 day ago
The player, Thomas Russo, nearly put all of his strength into spinning the wheel.
1 day ago
Things took a turn for the better with the shark as far as the entrepreneurs were concerned.
2 days ago
The expert pointed out the intricate details on the item and said it was a personal item of the royals.
2 days ago
The expert said that if the signature was on a letterhead when Garfield was President, it would be worth more.
2 days ago
Had the contestants not gotten their gamble right, they would have lost everything they'd earned.
3 days ago
The revelation came thanks to a fan who asked the question during a "Jeopardy!" taping.
3 days ago
The entrepreneurs' decision came as a big shock to the sharks, and they did not hide it.
3 days ago
Tina double-guessed her third answer, "Does April have 31 days?" Harvey gave her the stink eye.
3 days ago
All the theatrics didn't work when sharks started scrutinizing profit margins.
3 days ago
"Can I stop at any time?" the player nervously inquired. "You can stop any time you want, yes," Carey assured.
3 days ago
Guests on the show would run with it if they ever got that kind of money on Pawn Stars.
4 days ago
The guest even said to keep the kids in the dark about how valuable these items were.
4 days ago
The company had fantastic sales but a crushing debt with a high interest rate that the sharks hated.
4 days ago