Bec Oakes
A Minnesota ice cream parlor has faced backlash after it allegedly fired a worker for accepting a $100 (£79) tip.
Tips are often a vital source of additional income for those working in the low-paying service industry.
However, a Minnesota ice cream parlor worker claims that a customer's generous tip left her without a job.
Last month, Emily Swenson was working at The Moorhead Freez when she received an astonishing $100 tip.
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Emily insisted that she couldn't accept the tip but the customer put the cash in the tip jar and drove away.
But, what was supposed to be a kind gesture from a happy customer soon turned nasty.
A few days later on 24 April, she received a warning from her boss, which has since been posted on Facebook by Emily's parents.
The 'employee notice warning form' read: "Emily needs to understand that some of our customers are elderly and could be dealing with dementia or other illnesses that make it hard for them to understand their actions.
"No one in their right frame of mind tips $100 at a place where every menu item is under $12."
The Facebook post also revealed that Emily's boss allegedly accused her of 'taking' the money from the customer.
The warning continued: "As an employee of The Freez, it is your responsibility to protect the reputation of the establishment. If the customer is dealing with issues and the family finds out that she was allowed to put $100 in the tip jar, The Freez will be looked down on as a place that takes advantage of the elderly."
According to her parents, Emily, who'd worked for Moorhead Freez for five seasons, was fired the following day on the basis that she broke the company's policy of not accepting bills worth more than $20.
After receiving backlash for the incident, the ice cream parlor put out their own Facebook statement.
It read: "Ice cream makes people happy. Social media bullying - not so much.
"We did not terminate the adult at will employee of five years for not accepting a tip. There's more to the story.
"We won't go into details, it's a personal matter. However, we believe that if the parents are posting for an adult child - they haven't asked the right questions of their adult daughter."
But social media users weren't convinced, with one commenting on the post: "Perhaps she was someone who really appreciated Emily and her coworkers who do a good job. I doubt any other food establishment would fire someone for saying they couldn’t accept the tip and then the person put it in the tip jar anyway!"
And another left a negative review for the eatery, writing: "I didn't know I had dementia until today. Apparently, generous tipping is a sign of being 'not in my right mind.' Who knew?"
UNILAD has contacted The Freez Moorhead for comment.