Emily Swenson was working a shift at The Freez in Moorhead, Minn., when a customer attempted to tip her $100. After she insisted that the tip was too generous and she couldn’t accept it, the customer dropped the $100 bill into the tip jar and drove away. A few days later, Emily received a written warning from her boss: "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.” Emily’s parents, Seth and Lisa Swenson, were infuriated. They posted the warning on Facebook, explaining that Emily was working her fifth season at the ice cream shop. The day after receiving the warning, Emily was fired for violating the company’s policy that says employees should not accept bills over $20 as a form of payment, even though the policy doesn’t say anything about tips. Needless to say, the backlash The Freez received on social media was immediate. The management posted their own message: “Ice cream makes people happy, social media bullying, not so much.” The post went on to say: "We did not terminate the adult at-will employee of 5 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.” Members of the public rushed to the comments to share their reactions to the controversial termination, with one user writing: "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!” Another user said, "I’m trying to wrap my head around this situation. How is it Emily’s fault if the lady dropped the money in the tip jar after Emily refused to take it? It sounds to me like the manager/owner was looking for fault in the employees."
