Shocking New 'N' Word Scandal: Teen Waitress Fired By Red Lobster After Exposing Customer's Hate Crime, Family Says
Sept. 9 2013, Published 2:38 p.m. ET
UPDATE 12:59 p.m. PT -- Despite her mom's claim that her daughter has been fired, a spokesperson for the restaurant tells Radar: "Christina Jenkins has NOT been fired. In fact, she has not lost any days of work so far and is still scheduled to work this week as usual." The rep adds, "We are extremely disturbed by this situation and are currently investigating to determine exactly what happened. We take this extremely seriously. This kind of language is completely disgusting and has no place in our restaurant or anywhere else and we are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible."
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Something's rotten at Red Lobster.
A nineteen-year-old waitress at the restaurant, Toni Christina Jenkins, was thrust into the spotlight this weekend after posting a receipt that had "None, n****r' written in the space meant for gratuity. Now, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that the innocent teen from Franklin, TN, has been fired after exposing the hate crime.
"She was totally not expecting this at all," Toni's mom, Tina Jenkins-Wilson tells RadarOnline.com exclusively. "She's spent a lot of time crying."
Toni was only hoping for "some prayers and support," her mom says, when she posted the hateful note on her Facebook page on Sunday, exposing a racist couple who were "extremely rude" to her while she served them their $45 meal at A Red Lobster on Saturday afternoon.
Christina showed the note -- which had "None, n****r" written as the tip -- to her boss before posting it, she says, and was assured she had done nothing wrong.
By Monday, her mom tells Radar, "They let her go. They told her she could not return to work and that they were going to be investigating. They didn't tell her they were going to pay her or anything. They didn't say if they were going to punish the people that did it. They just said they were going to let her off."
"It's heartbreaking," Tina says. "She's a nursing student who is trying to save up money so she can get back and forth to school. Waitressing is how she makes her money."
Toni graduated from high school a year early, her mom says, and is currently in her third year of medical school at Belmont University.
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"It's so hurtful as a parent to see this happening," she continues," because Toni's just trying to do the right thing. She's trying to make an honest living and live a good life. The past few days have been overwhelming for her, because she was not expecting this negativity."
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Luckily, Tina says, another local restaurant, Bonefish Grill in Cool Springs, TN, has already reached out to offer Toni another job.
"Bonefish Grill has stepped in and asked her to come over there," Tina confirms. "There's definitely going to be a happy ending to all of this."
