Waffle House Worker Recorded with Baby in Kitchen Has Tragic Backstory

The Waffle House worker who’s been ridiculed for viral video of her holding a baby during her shift in the kitchen, says she really had no choice … and the sad truth should silence her Internet haters.

TMZ spoke with Tiffany Clark — the employee in the TikTok vid and mother of 4 — who tells us she was working the overnight shift at a South Carolina Waffle House last weekend when she got a call from the baby’s grandmother about a desperate family situation.

Tiffany says the baby is her 4-month-old niece Octavia — daughter of her brother, who recently died. She tells us grandma asked her to take the baby immediately, because the child’s mother was about to be hospitalized for mental illness.

Tiffany says the only other option was for the baby to end up in the custody of child services — so, she decided to take her to work, and says the video is not nearly as bad as it looks.

For starters, Tiffany claims she was never cooking food with baby Octavia in her arms as it appears … she was marking plates for servers. And, she says she was only behind the counter with the child for the brief moment caught on video.

Tiffany says after the video went viral, she got a call from her boss, and after explaining the situation … she got suspended for a week. She tells us she hasn’t heard from Waffle House since Monday, but expects to still have her job once her suspension’s over.

We reached out to Waffle House, and it says it does not disclose private personnel matters.