Waitress Receives $10,000 Tip From Stranger A Few Days Later She Was Fired From Her Job

It's been a week full of twists and turns for Mason Jar Cafe waitress Linsey Boyd — or rather, former waitress Linsey Boyd.

The young mom couldn't believe her eyes when a customer left her a 32000% tip. No seriously. That's not a misprint — but what happened next may have shocked her even more.

Why One Man Left a $10,000 Tip on a $32 Bill

It was a Monday afternoon in Benton Harbor, Michigan, when a mysterious gentleman dressed in a smart black suit walked in to Mason Jar Cafe.

Waitress Linsey Boyd didn't think too much of the solo diner. He was quiet, but polite.

After only sipping his coffee and barely touching his breakfast, he settled up. He paid for the $32.43 bill with his American Express card. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

That is, until Boyd looked at the cheque.

The tip line had been filled in: $10 — with three zeros tagged on the end.

Yes that's right. The good samaritan had blown the staff of the local upscale cafe away by leaving them an over-the-top $10,000 tip!

"We have a crew that does a wonderful job of taking care of guests, so larger tips are pretty normal around here, but not anything of this magnitude. This was absolutely out of the blue — and the largest anyone I’ve spoken to has ever seen."

Tim Sweeney, Mason Jar Cafe Manager

The customer, who preferred to remain anonymous hailed from another state. As it turns out, he had arrived to Benton Harbor on some rather gloomy business.

Before entering the Mason Jar Cafe he had been at the cemetery. He was mourning the loss of a dear, old friend. After the funeral he wanted to celebrate his life too.

The good samaritan intended the sizeable tip to be a tribute to his late friend's memory and hoped to bring joy to others. However, it may have brought more conflict than he could have foreseen.

The Mason Jar Cafe snapped a picture of the bill and posted the evidence on their social media — only to remove the post from their Facebook page several days later.

The reason may just shock you.

If Only the Story Ended There…

"The server even shared the tip amongst the the other staff to continue to spread the love," Mason Jar Cafe captioned the photo. "Things can feel real heavy sometimes, but this was such an amazing act to have seen first hand in our restaurant."

The server mentioned — Linsey Boyd — claimed she was more than happy to split the tips with her 8 colleagues.

"More people than I can count thought i should have just kept all the money and not have shared. The thought hadn't even occurred to me," she wrote on Facebook.

However her manager Tim Sweeney told a different story.

Sweeney shared that the patron specifically requested the tip to be evenly distributed among the eight servers. This resulted in a gratuity of $1,250 per person — but he insinuated Boyd wasn't as happy to "pool" her tips as she let on.

Apparently, this wouldn't be the first time Boyd and her manager were at odds. But it would be one of the last.

What seemed like the perfect feel good story to happen in the most unlikely of places — Benton Harbor often cited for having one of the highest crime rates in America — quickly soured.

On Friday, Boyd received the biggest tip of her life. Sunday she was told not to come into work. the next day. Then Tuesday she was told to stay home. On Wednesday she received her final notice.

She Was Fired a Few Days Later

If there was a "good time" to let Boyd go — this definitely wasn't it.

Understandably, the feel good story whipped up a small media storm...and all eyes were on the Mason Jar Cafe...but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

In a heartfelt Facebook status, Boyd announced she was unceremoniously let go from her job at the cafe — and the internet was outraged.

"One week I'm such an amazing hardworking employee awesome mother.. couldn't have happened to a better person. Now, I'm without a job for the first time since I was 15 years old."

Linsey Boyd, Facebook

After sharing how she chose to share her tips out of the goodness of her heart but "hindsight is 20/20", Boyd went on to share how despite the "$1600 boost" the week earlier, now she is in a massive predicament.

"I have no job or no way to provide for myself or my kids," Boyd wrote.

The Restaurant Insists It “Wasn’t Related”

Mason Jar Cafe is still under serious social media fire when it was announced they had let go of the waitress who only a few days prior was awarded the generous tip.

However, the restaurant released a statement defending their decision.

Mason Jar Café co-owner Jayme Cousins wrote to News 8 that labor laws prohibited management from providing the full details of the server’s dismissal, but added, “I can say it was not affiliated with the tip she received.”

Still, social media is divided.

Many community members are speaking out against Mason Jar Cafe, vouching for Boyd and demanding "justice."

But some are defending the restaurants position.

One Facebook user, Carissa Adams commented, "I feel like there is more to the story. Don’t get me wrong! I was reading the comments while eating fictional popcorn but I feel like there’s more to it. Usually the one yelling the loudest has something to cover."

Money Can Change People — Don’t Let It Change You

While we may never know what really went down behind closed doors, if Linsey Boyd had really been on the chopping block prior to receiving her big tip, then she got an amazing "nest egg" to tide her over until the next gig.

If the rumors are true, and Boyd was unlawfully terminated over drama related to tip-gate, then maybe it's a blessing in disguise she'd no longer be subject to a toxic workplace?

Sometimes all we can do it chalk it up to "everything happens for a reason."

We can only hope the wide coverage of her story will result in a job offer from an even better employer!

Until then, let us remember that while it's definitely not news that money can change people, let's all swear if any of us are lucky enough to get an extra 10K in our pockets, we won't let it change us!

More from Goalcast: