Applebee’s Waitress Fired Over Pastor’s Receipt

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The waitress who shared a photo of a pastor’s snide comments about an automatic gratuity has been fired.

Chelsea Welch was let go from her job at DineEquity‘s (NYSE:DIN) Applebee’s after Pastor Alois Bell informed the company that Welch had shared the photo on popular website Reddit, reports United Press International. In fact, Welch was not even Bell’s server — another woman was, and Welch merely took the photo because she thought it was “comically immature.”

Bell, who is a pastor in the St. Louis area, left a note on her receipt that read, “I give God 10% why do you get 18%?” She also left a zero on the tip line and signed it “Pastor Alois Bell.” Bell’s party of 20 had a total bill of more than $200 for the meal before taxes; the check for $34.93 was one of several separate checks the party asked for to circumvent the restaurant’s auto-grat policy.

The pastor says that, even if she didn’t leave a tip on the charge slip, others at the table left tips in cash after the meal.

Welch had a good relationship with her employer prior to her firing. However, Applebee’s released a statement saying that customers’ information is private and sharing any of it is against company policy.

The chain also has apologized to Bell. Bell now says, “It was just dumb. “It was dumb of me and I can say that because I take responsibilities for all my actions.”

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2013/02/applebees-waitress-fired-over-pastors-receipt/.

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