Linsey Boyd, a Michigan mother, has now been let go from Mason Jar Cafe in Benton Harbor. However, the restaurant insists the dismissal was a ‘business decision’ unrelated to the whopping tip.
The generous tipper was a middle-aged man in a dark suit who wished not to be identified but said he was in town for a funeral and intended to spread some cheer, according to Detroit Free Press. The receiver of that generous cheer would be Boyd.
'I just gave him a hug. I didn't even know his name at that point, but I gave him a hug. He then told me he left her a memorial of someone very dear to him and he wanted to do something kind and generous in her name,' Boyd told WSBT.
Boyd revealed in a now-deleted post on Facebook that it was after this that she lost her job because of 'all of the drama, animosity and hurt' that ensured from the massive tip.
The restaurant owners Able Martinez and Jayme Cousins said 'labor laws' limited what they could share but claimed that the termination of Boyd had nothing to do with the $10,000 tip.
'We cannot comment on the nature of her losing her job due to labor laws and to protect the staff involved,' the couple wrote in a Facebook post.
'However, I will say it had nothing to do with the tip. She did receive the entire tip, she did not pay taxes on it (the business did). Yes, she shared the tip at the request of the man that left it,' they said.
But Boyd’s side of the story differs, after she was asked to take a mental health day off as ‘drama’ unfolded as a result of the tip.
'Drama ensued, and in an attempt to diffuse the situation and resolve any rumors, things became even worse,' she wrote.
While the drama was not specified, rumors have circulated that the staff who weren’t working that day may have expected to share the tip.
'The staff that was not working the day of the $10,000 tip expected to be cut and created an extremely dramatic work environment,' a post reads.
Boyd was fired through a phone call, marking the first time since she was 15 that she is without a job.
