A Chili, Florida, waiter (@powerupmyah) says he was fired after making a 911 call because he believed a customer was about to drive drunk with seven children in the car. The decision sparked debate over whether restaurant workers should bear the consequences of putting public safety over corporate interests.
@powerupmyah tells the story through six clips.
He began by saying that the two children had arrived and were waiting for their parents. The parents (two women) arrived but brought with them five other children, bringing the total number of children to seven.
“I greeted the table and they started [start talking about] main course. Of course, me being me, I said, ‘Hey, guys. Would you like some drinks or appetizers first? “
One mother then said, “Oh no. We need to get the order in.”
The first trouble arose when he discovered they wanted to split the checks. But when he returned from other tables, things got worse.
Chili’s customers are starting to get rude.
“Everything was going great. I was leaning against the table,” he continued. “She said, ‘Aren’t these chips and salsa unlimited? Come on, get us some more. What are you doing? I want us all to have a chip.'”
Then even the children started barking at him.
He asked the delivery boy to get the food out as quickly as possible, especially since he had several other tables to attend to.
At some point, the customer asked the manager to complain about his service.
“So, when she was in there complaining about me, of course, for God knows what reason,” he continued, “I had served her alcohol, okay? So, she was fine, drunk. Really drunk. Your daughter had a great time at Chili’s Bar and Grill. Do you feel me?”
But after complaining, the manager topped up the bill and added a free dessert.
Then things took a major turn.
“She’s drunk”
“So now they’re walking out and the mothers are yelling at their kids again and, of course, stumbling out,” he said, noting something disturbing.
“I said, ‘Oh, no. She’s drunk,'” he quickly assessed. “Driving to the car and driving seven kids home.”
“Do you know what the drunk driving rate is? Seven babies?” he asked. “Oh, what else can people do? I called 911: ‘I want to report a drunk driver who was loading her seven kids into a minivan and getting ready to hit the road jack.'”
There is an important note here.
“Mind you, Chili just made us do SafeServ alcohol training or something like that, whatever the case may be,” he said. “It’s crazy to me that people are sitting here, walking in here, getting drunk and driving.”
Regarding calling the police, he said: “I don’t play those games. [They were] Drunk, belligerent, quarrelsome. “
Police arrive at Chili Shop
He said he provided a description of the adult customer and police arrived shortly after. They surrounded customers’ vans in the Chili parking lot. This all happened around closing time.
“Then the police came in and said, ‘Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Who called?'” he recalled. He told them he made the call.
“So now I’m sitting here briefing them on what happened,” he continued. “I said, ‘Here’s her drink. Here’s her receipt.'” That was it. “
But the manager wasn’t sure why she wasn’t the point person.
“She saw the police there, but they didn’t talk to her,” he said. “Well, of course, honey. This has nothing to do with you. This is beyond you. You paid their bill. They left here. They left Chili’s.”
In hindsight, his very act of calling the police (apparently not allowing the manager to call) could have had consequences.
He said the drunk woman was given a breathalyzer test and police allowed the two women to switch places and drive home.
The case appears to be over.
Investigation and Termination
“So, boom. Everything is going great now. She said, ‘I have to document it,'” he said. “She went around the whole store asking everyone what they saw.” After playing a nifty little game of Telephone, ‘What do you hear?’ What did you hear? What did you hear? ‘You know what? After so many versions, and then back to the general manager. “
Eventually, he recounted the ordeal to his general manager.
“I’d say, ‘Hey, how are you? Dear sir, let’s get down to business.’ I’m not one of those people who beat around the bush,” he recalled of the meeting.
He said the general manager called back within two to three hours. The TikToker said he saw such an arrangement.
He remembers thinking: “I’m sure you’ve read tons of documents and you’ve heard from this person and that person. You know what’s going on. Don’t sit here and insult my intelligence.”
He said he reiterated the fact that he did call the police.
The general manager finally came back and fired him. But he declared, in extensive explanation, that he didn’t care.
“That being said, this is why I was fired -[expletive] Chili pepper. “
Some points to return
Now, this former Chili server’s explanation of SafeServ training is worth highlighting.
ServSafe Alcoholic Beverage Training teaches servers about their personal responsibilities when serving alcoholic beverages. This includes criminal, civil and administrative liability. Waiters should ensure that intoxicated customers get home safely and notify other staff that service is stopped to prevent customers from driving under the influence.
In reality, this server fits the middle ground. He himself admitted that the customer was drunk, so he didn’t actually stop service until he was drunk. However, to be fair, levels of intoxication vary from person to person and can be difficult to judge if you’re looking after other patrons.
On the other hand, he did the one thing he was trained to do: He called the police, but didn’t think the driver was allowed to drive. He does not appear to have informed his work manager of his behavior for consultation before calling the police.
Let’s quickly analyze the paradox of his dismissal:
What Chili’s requires of its employees:
They require employees to complete SafeServe/Responsible Supplier training. They learned about their personal responsibility in serving intoxicated patrons. Their mission is to understand the responsibilities of preventing drunk driving.
Effective punishment for Chili:
Practical application of this training. Action taken to prevent a woman driving drunk with seven children in the car. Follow the training recommendations and call the police.
Although he was a bit stingy, he showed genuine concern for the safety of his seven children. Training prepared him for this specific responsibility, but his management team punished him for performing it.
If he allows them to continue leaving and they get into a drunk driving accident, he could be held personally (and criminally) liable.
Similar stories
More than a decade ago, in 2013, Twyla DeVito, a bartender at the American Legion Post in Shelby, Ohio, was fired after she reported to police that a regular customer was driving drunk and getting away. The customer was found to have a blood alcohol level more than twice the state’s legal limit. Two days after the customer was arrested, her commander told her she was “bad for business” and fired her, ABC News reported.
But like the waiter in this story, DeVito told ABC News she has no regrets: “If he had an accident, that would be on me because I was on duty. It was a lose-lose situation. I chose to maybe save a life.”
Peanut Gallery comments on Chili server firing
One commenter noted, “You also saved Chili millions of dollars in lawsuits because if that lady had an accident, the whole place would be sued for letting her drive. That’s why bartenders have to cut you off if they notice you’re drunk.”
Another person responded that that was probably why the manager asked him to leave. “This is why they fired him!” she wrote. “They didn’t want him to have that information. I’m sure he [could] Sue for false termination and get the money! ! ! ! “
The comment section generally believed that his behavior was reasonable and rational. “You’re not wrong,” one said. “You’d feel bad if you didn’t call! I love that you did what you thought was necessary.”
AllHipHop reached out to @powerupmyah via TikTok comments and Chili’s media relations group, Brinker International, via email.
@powerupmyah It gets worse! ! ! #chilisbirthday #chilis ♬ Original Sound – PowerUpMyah🥀
