Nationwide — Dawn Montgomery, an African American woman from Laurel, Mississippi, says that a restaurant manager questioned her about a $150 tip that she left for a waiter at a local Applebee’s restaurant. The incident has sparked a viral uproar on social media over racial bias in tipping practices.
However, the evening took a turn when the restaurant’s manager approached Montgomery, stating they needed to contact corporate about the unusually high tip. Montgomery felt uneasy as the manager made a scene and implied the tip might not go through.
Before leaving, Montgomery even had to provide additional signatures and her contact information to the manager. However, she learned from other staff that the manager should have verified the tip discreetly without causing a scene.
While Montgomery clarified she wasn’t accusing anyone of racism, she initially noticed potential racial bias.
“I am not saying that this was a racist experience BUT I do know that the reason why Melissa had to wait on us was because NO ONE ELSE in the restaurant wanted to wait on a party of 10-14 Black people. We heard the comments and still stayed to support Melissa,” Montgomery said via a social media post on X.
Montgomery’s post on social media quickly gained millions of views. Many saw this as a stereotype that Black patrons don’t tip well, although some former restaurant staff explained it’s common to verify large card tips to prevent fraud.
The manager later called Montgomery to apologize, revealing he realized they were high school classmates.
Moreover, Applebee’s also apologized to Montgomery and pledged additional training for their managers to prevent similar incidents.
