Feeling guilty? Church finally compensates Outback Steakhouse server

The church that stiffed an Outback Steakhouse server on a $US735 ($NZ1012) order recently compensated the woman after church members learned she had been fired from the restaurant for complaining about the ordeal on Facebook.

Christ Fellowship gave an undisclosed amount of money to Tamlynn Yoder, 25.

Yoder said she spent most of her shift on Wednesday putting together the 75-item order for Christ Fellowship at the Outback where she worked in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

"We take the order over the phone, we put the order together, take payment and then take order to the car," Yoder told the Palm Beach Post. "It's a lot of work just as much as serving."

Yoder said she made just $18 in tips during her shift since she spent most of her time on the church's order of 25 steaks, 25 chickens and 25 potatoes.

She took to Facebook to complain that Christ Fellowship had stiffed on the tip, though she didn't identify where she worked.

But when a friend saw her post he urged her to take it down and said he'd contact Christ Fellowship directly to see if they'd remedy the situation.

The next day, Yoder came in to work and was told that Christ Fellowship had been refunded the entire $US735 ($NZ1012), and she was fired.

An Outback spokeswoman told the Post that Yoder had violated a company policy prohibiting employees from talking about customers online.

The church said that they had contacted the restaurant after hearing the complaint from Yoder's friend to see about getting a tip to her, and never intended for her to be fired.

On Monday, the church compensated Yoder over the incident that cost the waitress her job.

Yoder told Post that the church reached out to her and gave her a compensation that totaled "more than the tip".

A church representative told Yoder that a couple of the church families came together for the donation.

Outback has not contacted Yoder since her termination, Yoder said, but church reps are working to rectify the situation.

The minimum wage for tipped employees in Florida is $US5.23 ($NZ7.19) an hour. Although opinions vary on tipping for carry-out orders, Yoder says it's a must.

Shortly after learning of the situation, Christ Fellowship said their policy is to tip on carry-out orders, but that their volunteer wasn't aware of that.

The church then released this statement: "Thank you all very much for expressing your concerns," the church said in a statement on Facebook.

"We are sorry to hear about this situation and our leaders have been notified about it. We value our local business partners and those who work in their establishments—many of whom are members of our church—and it is customary for us to leave a generous tip whenever we pick up a carry-out order.

"They will be looking into what happened in this instance. We are reaching out directly to the people affected."

Yoder said she is currently seeking a new job.