Reflection on Social Media Case 8: Pastor’s 10% to God

This case is another perfect example of how when and issue is taken to social media it can have negative repercussions.  The discussion is whose reputation was damaged and what were the results. In my opinion both reputations were in jeopardy after this incident. Pastor Bell’s actions made her a huge target on social media because she seemed heartless and rude.  Chelsea Welch’s co-workers actions ultimately ended in her losing her job and possibly future jobs. At first read I was not very happy with Pastor Bell. It is very standard for a restaurant to add a group gratuity and I don’t think that I have every glanced twice at paying one.  I know that being a waitress is hard work and that they are usually very underappreciated. I always try to tip well because I respect what they do and what it takes to do it. Chelsea Welch’s co-workers reaction could be seen as overreacting or childish, but I have a really hard time not siding with them on this.  When a customer comes in and makes it known that they represent a religious group and then react in a negative way and make a scene I think that makes the situation much worse.

 

Applebee’s had a responsibility to uphold their policy on group gratuity and hold Pastor Bell accountable to that policy.  But when their staff was called into question by Pastor Bell they had to act. I do not think that firing Chelsea was the right answer.  If the company had taken it on themselves to do more research into the situation they would have found out that Chelsea on her own was not to blame.   However, Chelsea did know that there were rules associated with the photo of the receipt being posted to social media. She could have taken it upon herself to put out her own side of the story. Through a blog post, or official statement. It is very unfortunate that this situation had to happen at all, but I believe that both parties involved have ownership in the outcome.