A Florida Chili’s server (@powerupmyah) says he was fired after calling 911 on a customer he believed was about to drive drunk with seven children in her vehicle. It is a decision that has sparked debate about whether restaurant workers should face consequences for prioritizing public safety over corporate interests.
@powerupmyah tells the story across six clips.
He starts the story off saying two kids had arrived and were waiting for their parents. The parents, two women, arrive, but with five other children in tow, bringing the total to seven kids.
“I greet the table, and they begin to [start talking about] entrees. Of course, me being me, I said, ‘Hey, guys. Do you guys wanna get started off with some drinks and maybe some appetizers?’”
One of the mothers then says, “Oh, no. We need to get our order in.’”
The first complication arrives when he discovers they will want a split check. But it gets progressively worse after he comes back from his other tables.
Chili’s Customers Start to Get Rude
“Everything’s hunky dory. I swing back by the table,” he continued. “She says, ‘Aren’t these chips and salsa bottomless? Hurry up and get us some more. What are you doing? I want a chip for all of us.’”
Then even the children start to bark at him.
He asked his food runner to get the food out as quickly as possible, especially since he’s also dealing with several other tables.
At some point, the customer asked for the manager to complain about his service.
“So, as she’s over there complaining about me, of course, for God knows whatever reason,” he went on, “I’ve served her her alcoholic beverages, OK? So, she’s good and drunk. Real good intoxicated. Your girl had her a good little time at Chili’s Bar and Grill. You feel me?”
But after the complaints, the manager comped the bills and tacked on free dessert as well.
Then, things took a major turn.
‘She’s Drunk’
“So now they’re walking out, mothers yelling at the kids yet again, of course, stumbling out,” he said, noticing something troubling.
“And I said, ‘Oh, no. She’s drunk,’” he quickly assessed. “Getting behind the wheel and finna go drive sven children—seven children—home.”
“Y’all know what the DUI rate is? With seven babies?” he asked. “Oh, what else could one do? I called 911: ‘I would like to report a drunk driver that is loading her seven children up into a minivan and is about to “Hit the Road Jack.”’”
There is a major note here.
“Mind you guys, Chili’s just made us do this SafeServ alcohol training or whatnot, whatever the case may be,” he said. “And for people to sit up here, come in here, and get intoxicated and then go and drive is insanity to me.”
About making the call to the police, he said, “I don’t play those games. [They were] drunk, belligerent, falling all out.”
More on this shortly.
The Police Arrive at Chili’s
He says he provided a description of the adult customers, and the police arrived quickly. They surrounded the customers’ van in the Chili’s parking lot. This all took place around closing time.
“So then the police come in, saying, ‘Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Who called?’” he recalled. He told them that he made the call.
“So now I’m sitting here giving them the quick rundown of what happened,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘Here goes her drinks. Here goes her receipt.’ And that’s that.”
But the manager was unsure why she was not the point person.
“She sees the police is there, but they’re not talking to her,” he said, “Well, of course, love. This has nothing to do with you at this point. This is beyond you. You comped their bill. They’re out of here. They’re out of Chili’s.”
In hindsight, this action alone, his calling the police, apparently not allowing the manager to make the call, likely had its own consequences.
He says the drunk woman took a breathalyzer test, and the police allowed the two women to switch places and drive home.
The case seemed closed.
The Investigation and Termination
“So, boom. Now everything was hunky dory. She said, ‘I have to document this,” he said. “She ran around the whole entire store asking everybody what they saw. After a nice little game of telephone, ‘What did you hear? Did you hear? What did you hear?’ You know? After so many versions, then it got back to the GM.”
Eventually, he talks to the general manager about the ordeal.
“I go, ‘Hey, how are you doing? Respectfully, sir, let’s get to the point.’ I am not one of those to 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 the setup coming.
He remembered thinking: “I’m sure you’ve read plenty of documentation, and you heard from this person and that person. You know what happened. Don’t sit up here and insult my intelligence.”
He says he reiterated the fact that he did, in fact, call the police.
The general manager finally returned and fired him. But he declares, in plenty of explicatives, that he couldn’t care less.
“With that being said, that is how I got fired from bogus-[expletive] Chili’s.”
Some Points to Return
Now, this former Chili’s server’s explanation of the SafeServ training deserves some emphasis.
ServSafe Alcohol training teaches servers about their personal liability when serving alcohol. This includes criminal, civil, and administrative liability. Servers are supposed to ensure intoxicated customers get home safely and inform fellow staff that service has been stopped so they can keep the customer from driving while drunk.
In practice, this server fits in the middle ground. He, himself, acknowledges that the customer was drunk, so he actually did not stop service prior to intoxication. However, to be fair, points of intoxication vary per person and can be difficult to judge if you’re tending to other patrons.
On the flip side, he did the one thing he was trained to do: He called the police and did not assume the driver was OK to drive. What it appeared he did not do was inform his working manager of his actions for consultation before calling the police.
Let’s do a quick breakdown of the paradox in his firing:
What Chili’s requires from employees:
- They required employees to complete SafeServe/Responsible Vendor training.
- They learned personal liability for serving intoxicated customers.
- They were tasked with understanding the duty to prevent drunk driving.
What Chili’s effectively punished:
- Actually applying that training.
- Taking action to prevent a woman from driving drunk with seven kids in the van.
- Calling the police, as the training suggested.
Even though he was a little petty, he showed genuine concern for the safety of the seven children. The training prepared him for this specific responsibility, but his management team punished him for exercising it.
Had he allowed them to leave unabated, and they were in a drunk driving accident, he could have been held personally (and criminally) liable.
A Similar Story
Over a decade ago, in 2013, Twyla DeVito, a bartender at the American Legion Post in Shelby, Ohio, was fired after calling police to report a regular patron who drove away intoxicated. The patron was found with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit in the state. Two days after the patron’s arrest, her commander told her she was “bad for business” and fired her, according to ABC News.
But like the server in this story, DeVito told ABC News she had no regrets: “If he had gotten in a wreck, that would have been on me, because I was on my shift. It was in a lose-lose situation. I choose to possibly save a life.”
The Peanut Gallery Weighs in on Chili’s Server’s Firing
One commenter noted, “You also saved Chili’s millions in lawsuits because if that lady would’ve gotten into an accident, that whole store would’ve been sued for even letting her drive. That’s why bartenders are required to cut you off if they notice that you’re overly intoxicated.”
Another person replied that it was likely why the manager let him go. “That’s why they fired him!” she wrote. “They didn’t want him knowing this information. I’m sure he [could] sue for false termination and get that money!!!!!”
The prevailing belief in the comments section was that he acted reasonably and rationally. “You ain’t wrong,” one person said. “You would have felt horrible if you didn’t call! I love that you did what you felt was necessary.”
AllHipHop reached out to @powerupmyah via TikTok comment and to Chili’s media relations group, Brinker International, via email.
AllHipHop
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