Coffee giant Starbucks is under fire
for dismissing a gay employee.
Missy Alison, a woman in a lesbian
relationship, alleges three female employees at a Centereach, Long
Island outlet chided then dismissed an employee in a “brazen”
display of homophobia.
Allison shared the letter she penned to
Starbucks at her wife's blog
Lil Family Blog: 2 Moms, 1 Toddler, and a Lot of Love.
“I have never, in my entire life seen
such a gross and unapologetic display of ignorance and intolerance,”
she wrote. “I was horrified that my [3-year-old] daughter [Lily]
was exposed to that.”
According to Allison's account, a
Starbucks manager scolded an employee named Jeffrey in the store for
about 15 to 20 minutes.
“She told him that they were not
interested in his politics or beliefs and his thoughts were down
right offensive to his co-workers. They did not want to hear about
his personal life. When Jeffrey pointed out that they ALL talked
about their personal lives (during the course of the conversation I
learned that the manager had a daughter that went to tennis camp and
another one of the women had a birthday coming up so the irony and
the hypocrisy of that statement was mind blowing.) That his beliefs
were not welcome at Starbucks. She went on, and on and on talking
about leadership building workshops where she learned to 'Keep it to
herself'.”
“She kept reminding him, 'You are not
fired but ...” As if to say, you are not fired but you are really
not welcome here anymore.”
While conceding she did not know the
specifics of the outburst, Allison added, “[I] know that worker was
attacked and humiliated on the middle of your shop floor. I don't
care what his offense was, that sort of business should be conducted
in a back room.”
“She was bigoted, intolerant,
insensitive and no matter how upset she was at Jeffrey, her comments
and sentiments should not have been overheard by one of your
customers, gay or not.”
Reacting to the controversy, Starbucks
said in a statement that they would investigate the matter but
refused to disclose what, if any, disciplinary actions would be
taken.
“We are disheartened by the
allegations reported in an East Coast Starbucks store and are taking
immediate measures to investigate and take any steps necessary to
make this right. The actions reported do not correspond with our
values, who we are as a company or the beliefs we try to instill in
our partners,” the
company said.