New Jersey state Senator Declan O'Scanlon stirred controversy with a tweet about tipping

A Republican state lawmaker has stirred controversy with by naming and shaming a stingy tipper who left a 74 cent tip on a $119 restaurant bill.

New Jersey state Senator Declan O'Scanlon tweeted his outrage earlier this month after learning about the tip from his favorite waitress at the Colts Neck Inn Steak & Chop House.

'Wow... have to work to qualify for my calling you out specifically as a jerk. But Anthony Dierlof qualifies,' O'Scanlon said, tweeting an image of a receipt that included Dierlof's full name and the last four digits of his debit card.

'Ashley is a great waitress and wonderful human being. Certainly not a malicious bone in her body. Makes Anthony...a jerk. Live with your misplaced obnoxiousness,' O'Scanlon continued.

The tweet immediately generated controversy, with many responses questioning whether O'Scanlon was in the wrong for sharing a stranger's full name on Twitter.

However, O'Scanlon has stood by his remarks and refused to back down in the face of criticism, saying that nothing on the receipt could be considered private information.

Ashley, the waitress, even jumped into the fray as the controversy exploded, making a Twitter account specifically for the occasion.

'I am the mystery waitress & would just like to say that I have many customers who come to see me every week and request me by name because I do the best I can at any job I take on. This is how I met the senator, he stops in often and often has me as a server,' she wrote.

Ashley thanked O'Scanlon for 'sticking up for me and the rest of the good servers'.

She also clarified that she had been the one to highlight the tip and draw the frowny face on the receipt, so that her boss would see the small gratuity.

For days, the tightwad tipper Dierlof remained elusive, and could not be found on social media.

Eventually, Dierlof was tracked to northwestern Pennsylvania, where the 37-year-old works building train engines.

The stingy tip was left at the Colts Neck Inn (above) — but the tipper has spoke out in his own defense, saying that the service was awful and he stands by his tip

When reached, Dierlof staunchly stood by his 74 cent tip, and said that he was considering suing O'Scanlon for defamation.

'There's no reason for a senator, or for even the waitress in that matter, to take a picture and share that information with anyone,' Dierolf told the Asbury Park Press.

Dierolf said he had no idea who O'Scanlon was, but suggested that he find better things to do rather than 'going to dinner and worrying about a waitress getting a poor tip from some Joe Schmoe no one knows'.

Describing himself as an average blue-collar guy, Dierolf said that he had been in New Jersey for a vacation with his fiancee.

The happy couple went to the Colts Neck Inn on the final night of the trip, and Dierolf says they sat for 10 or 15 minutes before a server came over.

He said that the food was good, but the service was slow throughout the meal, even though the restaurant did not appear to be crowded.

Senator O'Scanlon (above) is also refusing to back down, saying that he was justified in sharing Dierolf's name on Twitter and shaming him over the tip

At the end of the meal, he said he just rounded up to the nearest dollar for a tip.

'If it'd been $119.99, it'd been a penny,' he said. 'It is a terrible tip, of course,' he added. 'But when I get treated like a terrible customer, I just really reflected it back on her.'

The waitress, identified in local media as 28-year-old Ashley Sculthorpe, fired back in an interview, defending her service.

'The customer never said anything to me,' she told the newspaper. 'Everything was great according to him, I asked him multiple times. They said everything was fine until I picked up the bill and they left me 74 cents.'

Dierolf says that he is now speaking with lawyers and is considering filing suit against O'Scanlon.

'I came there for vacation,' he said, 'I didn't expect to leave with the name of the 74-cent tipper.'