Starbucks fires Philadelphia employee accused of mocking stuttering customer
NEW YORK -- Starbucks says an employee in Philadelphia has been fired after allegedly mocking a customer with a stutter. The coffee chain says the behavior did not reflect the experience customers should have and the employee is no longer with Starbucks.
Tan Lekwijit posted Sunday on Facebook that his friend Sam stuttered when giving his name. Lekwijit said the barista then made light of it verbally
"The barista said, "Okay, S-s-s-sam,'" Lekwijit wrote.
When Sam received his drink, his name was spelled with extra letters: SSSAM. Lekwijit included with his post a picture of the drink, which shows the misspelled name on the label.
(Updates: Starbucks has commented on this post and reached out to Sam) Starbucks has deleted my post from their page,...
Posted by Tan Lekwijit on Sunday, July 1, 2018
The friend emailed Starbucks and was offered $5 as an apology, according to the post. Starbucks also said that was not the ideal response.
Starbucks said in a reply to Lekwijit's Facebook post that the employee was no longer with the company.
In May, Starbucks held anti-racial bias training for thousands of U.S. employees after a worker at another Philadelphia store called police on two black men waiting for a friend. The incident was a major embarrassment.