Ice cream shop worker allegedly fired for accepting $100 tip as store claims some customers have ‘dementia’

A Minnesota ice cream shop worker was allegedly fired after a customer tipped $100 in the tip jar as the store’s owners seemingly accused her of taking advantage of an elderly customer with “dementia.”

Seth and Lisa Swenson claim their adult daughter Emily, a five-season employee at The Freez in Moorhead, Minn., was canned after the tipping debacle at the roadside eatery last month.

Emily had finished serving a customer when the patron tried to leave the large bill behind even though the worker said she couldn’t accept it, according to the family’s Facebook post.

“Our daughter was offered a $100 tip and told the customer she couldn’t accept it. The customer put $100 in the tip jar and drove away,” the couple said.

At the end of the worker’s shift, the management at The Freez was furious with Emily and allegedly accused her of “taking” the large tip.

Two days later, on April 24, the business submitted an “Employee Warning Notice Form” to Emily for “corrective action.”

“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,” the shop said in the notice.

“No one in their right frame of mind tips $100 at a place where every menu item is under $12,” the notice shared by the Swensons continued.

Ironically, the ice cream shop was concerned about its public image within their community if word got out that their employee accepted such a large gratuity.

“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. Looking out for our customers should take priority over the opportunity to get a tip.”

Emily was fired a day later and her family claimed the generous gratuity was against the Moorhead Freez policy to accept bills over $20 as payment.

“There is nothing in the policy about tip amounts,” the Swenson’s argued.

The store fired back the family’s social media post a day later, claiming Emily wasn’t dismissed over the tip and contradicting the warning notice they had handed out days earlier.

“We did not terminate the adult at-will employee of 5 years for accepting a tip. There’s more to the story,” the shop said in a Facebook post.

It was not clear how old Emily is, but the roadside ice cream stand took exception to her parents sticking up for their “adult daughter.”

“We won’t go into details, it’s a personal matter. However, we believe that if parents are posting for an adult child- they haven’t asked the right questions of their adult daughter,” the store said.

“We are a small business built on a strong work ethic and Moorhead values. Our values and expectations reflect those of the community and our customers,” the post continued. “Ice cream makes people happy. Social media bullying- not so much.”

Emily doesn’t fault the customer for the firing, the family shared.

“Our daughter appreciates the generosity of the lady who tipped her and feels that this kind lady is no way responsible for what happened,” the couple said.

In February, a Michigan cafe server was fired after she split a $10,000 tip with her fellow front-of-house workers, upsetting the kitchen staff that they didn’t get a share of the large gift.

Linsey Huff — who also goes by the last name Boyd — collected the enormous gratuity off a $32.43 bill from a customer at the Mason Jar Cafe in Benton Harbor while he was in the area for a friend’s funeral.

The anonymous man, who left the now-viral tip in honor of his late friend, had requested the $10,000 be split among the service staff, as eight servers walked away with approximately $1,200 each.

The disgruntled back-of-house staffers had become angry with Huff for not getting a piece of the nearly 31,000% tip, and drama soon unfolded, causing problems within the staff.