Boy are Starbucks baristas going nuts these days or something. One Starbucks barista is being sued for throwing scolding hot cocoa on a customer and another mocked a man with a disability.
As the New York Post reports, Anna Kazachkova had a really hot cup of hot chocolate thrown on her after she just wouldn’t leave a Starbucks at closing time. The incident took place at the Strabucks located at East 42nd Street between Lexington and Third avenues at 9:50 pm on Jan. 17, 2016. OK, it happened a year ago, but it takes time for lawsuits to get going.
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According to the lawsuit, the Starbucks barista shouted, “You don’t mess with me,” at Anna Kazachkova. The victim explained why she did not leave at closing telling the Post, “They asked me if I wanted to stay or wanted to go and I said, ‘Sure, I’ll stay.’ So they gave me a tray and I went to the table.”
Hot cocoa thrown in our faces. Don’t people already have enough to complain about when it comes to how they get treated in a Starbucks?
Starbucks has said that the allegations against the barista are baseless.
Meanwhile, another Starbucks barista is in hot water (we know) for mocking a customer over his disabilities. The barista was not sued, but suspended, for publicly humiliating one Richard Procter for his speech impediment. According to England’s The Daily Mail, this incident happened at the Starbucks located at Ashford International railway station in Kent.
Apparently the barista in this incident wrote Richard’s name as “RRR…ichard” on his cup of coffee. Mr. Procter wrote on his Facebook page that, “The treatment I received from one of the [Starbucks barista] staff was extremely offensive and humiliating. Would this be acceptable to a person with more obvious disabilities? I highly doubt it.”
“Yes I have a speech impediment,” he added, “and have been subjected to many jokes over the years, of which most I can handle, however there are many people that struggle to cope in public and this could be extremely upsetting for them.”
We have all heard about how bad Starbucks baristas are at getting their customers’ names right on their cups, but this is ridiculous.
This may not seem as actionable as a physical assault, but the Starbucks barista here could still be sued for his actions.