Bullying takes many forms, but when a pastor of a church bullies a restaurant into firing an employee it is enough to raise eyebrows. According to Yahoo News on Jan. 31, an Applebee's employee who posted a photo of a catty comment on a credit card receipt lost her job when the pastor called to complain.
The photocopy of the receipt did not include any of the card information, only the pastor's comment.
The story, which went viral last week, started when a pastor of a church (later identified as Alois Bell, pastor of the Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries Church in St. Louis) refused a tip and wrote the reason why on the receipt. Applebee's has a policy that requires parties over eight to pay a pre-determined gratuity.
The pastor marked through the tip added in and then wrote "I give God 10% [sic] Why do you get 18."
The waitress, Chelsea Welch, snapped a photo of the comment and then posted it to Reddit. The image took off and became a viral sensation. The pastor was not amused and said that it "ruined her reputation" and "brought embarrassment to my church and ministry."
Since she embarrassed herself with the cheap display, the pastor decided to call Applebee's and complain about the server. Instead of just taking responsibility and apologizing, she has allegedly bullied the restaurant into firing Welch. Once again, Bell does not seem to be playing the role of a Christian minister well in this situation.
Applebee's said that releasing the photo online violated the pastor's "right to privacy." Welch said there was nothing in the employee handbook that admonishes this act and that she feels she was fired because of outing someone "who directly insults their server based on religious grounds."
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