An Olive Garden server in Fayetteville, Georgia, is at the center of a viral workplace controversy after she was fired one day after a customer left what appeared to be a $700 tip.
According to The Daily Dot, Brook Skyes received the unusually large gratuity from a customer on May 31. Skyes’ mother, Buni Williams, said management informed Skyes that the tip could not be processed immediately and instructed her to enter a zero on the tip line until the payment could be verified.
The situation became more complicated when, according to Williams, different managers provided different timelines for the review process. One reportedly estimated that the verification would take 1 to 2 days, while another suggested it could take as long as 120 days.
Williams said her daughter became upset after receiving what she described as unclear information about when—or whether—the money would be released. After asking a coworker to take over her next table, Skyes was reportedly told she could either continue working or leave.
She completed the remainder of her shift but was informed the following morning that the company was ending her employment because of her behavior the previous day.
In comments attached to her mother's viral post, Skyes described the firing as "retaliatory," though that characterization has not been established in court.
Olive Garden responded publicly after the story gained attention, stating that tips exceeding $500 are routinely flagged for review due to fraud concerns. The company said the $700 gratuity was ultimately declined because of insufficient funds and that this information had been communicated to Skyes.
However, the customer who left the tip later disputed parts of that explanation. According to Williams, the customer said he initially saw charges of $32 and then $38 on his account rather than the full gratuity amount. After seeing the controversy online, he froze his card. He later reported that a $699 charge was attempted after the card had been frozen, resulting in the transaction being declined.
Questions about how and when the transactions were processed have become a major focus of the dispute. Williams said both her daughter and the customer sought an explanation for why the charges appeared separately rather than as a single transaction. According to her account, neither received a clear answer.
Meanwhile, Williams said a current employee later informed her that management held a staff meeting and characterized the situation as a scam involving a customer card with insufficient funds.
It is unclear what measures, if any, Skyes and Williams plan to pursue against Olive Garden as of this writing.
