Anti-gay bar patrons leave bigoted message for their waiter -- and the restaurant fired him

A waiter at a chain sports bar in North Carolina shared a photo of a homophobic message he got on a receipt from customers he waited on -- and then got fired for doing so.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the waiter (identified only as Justin S. on the receipt) was fired from his job at a Hickory Tavern in Indian Trail, NC for sharing a photo of the credit card receipt with the patrons' names redacted -- a move that reportedly violated company policy.

The waiter's plight went viral when a friend shared his photo of the receipt on which the customers wrote "our gay waiter made me wanna throw up my food! Ruined my experience tongt. Will not be back!"

Though the initial post was meant to help the waiter find a new job in the area after his experience, social media backlash ensued, with the post of the receipt garnering over 2,000 shares on Facebook. On Tuesday, Hickory Tavern not only confirmed that they'd fired the waiter, but that they'd offered him his job back.

"Although the team member was initially terminated for violating this policy, after further discussions with the team member, we made the decision to offer his job back," the restaurant wrote in a statement. "We strive to strike the right balance between supporting our team members and protecting the private information of our guests."

Raw Story has reached out to Hickory Tavern for comment on whether the former employee accepted his job back.