Denny’s shamed non-tippers in a tweet. Twitter shamed Denny’s for servers’ low wages

More and more, businesses and corporations are embracing the snark and originality of avid social media users: Fast food chain Wendy’s has developed a reputation for its epic Twitter burns, toilet paper makers Charmin pokes fun at its own bathroom-related product and dictionary Merriam-Webster has not hesitated to wade into politics.

But for every good corporate tweet, there’s one that goes horrifically wrong. Breakfast restaurant chain Denny’s found that out the hard way Thursday.

It all started with a tweet imitating a computer file system shaming people who don’t leave tips. Specifically, Denny’s said people who don’t tip don’t have a heart.

Perhaps Denny’s was hoping to capitalize on the public’s sympathy for stories about people who leave large tips — and disdain for those who don’t. If so, it didn’t work.

In response, hundreds of Twitter users criticized the chain for its failure to pay workers a living wage. In industries where tipping is expected, the federal minimum wage is just $2.13, according to Mashable.

And while employers are legally required to make up the difference if an employee doesn’t make enough in tips, that sometimes doesn’t happen, according to FiveThirtyEight, which calculated that Denny’s employees have to serve more customers per hour to make minimum wage than other chains such as Olive Garden and Joe’s Crab Shack.

Denny’s has also been hit with several lawsuits over the past few years related to wage fraud. In 2016, California employees alleged that the chain had not paid them fully for overtime and regular shifts and had also refused to let them take legally-mandated breaks. That lawsuit was settled for $950,000, according to Law360.

At the same time, a lawsuit in Maryland filed by Denny’s employees accused managers of doctoring time cards to avoid paying for overtime hours. A similar lawsuit filed in New York in May alleged that Denny’s actually paid employees as if they were salaried to avoid paying for overtime.

In an analysis of wage and hour violations, Bloomberg ranked Denny’s the second worst full-service restaurant chain in the country, behind the company that owns IHOP and Applebee’s, but far above McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King and more than a dozen other chains.

Ad Week and Ad Age have previously praised Denny’s for its use of humor on social media. This might change that.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Denny’s shamed non-tippers in a tweet. Twitter shamed Denny’s for servers’ low wages."