Restaurants & Bars
Racial Slur Printed On SoCal Starbucks Cup Brews Outrage
Starbucks, already in hot water over charges of racism, is on the defensive after a barista allegedly scrawled a racist slur on a man's cup.
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA – Coffee giant Starbucks is once again in hot water after a barista allegedly scrawled a racist slur on the cup of a Latino customer in La Cañada Flintridge. The incident comes as Starbucks is still atoning for another high-profile racist incident with a companywide day of "racial bias training" scheduled for May 29.
The customer works as a cook at a nearby restaurant and stopped at the Starbucks for two drinks, KTLA reported. The barista reportedly heard the man's order clearly, but not his name, so instead of writing the name "Pedro," she wrote "Beaner," the news station reported.
When his drinks were ready, they called out his name, but when he later looked at his cup he saw the racial slur, Fox 11 reported. Pedro told the news station that he was hurt and was insulted.
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A Starbucks spokesman in Seattle told Fox 11 that they're launching a full investigation. It's "obviously not the kind of experience [they] want their customers to have," he said.
A #Starbucks employee at La Cañada Flintridge community wrote this on customer cup. Pedro is the name of that customer. We spoke to Pedro and residents of this community. Watch the full story at 5PM @FOXLA with @FoxPhil pic.twitter.com/4gvlOOGjQk
— Armando Aparicio (@armandapari) May 16, 2018
Starbucks has 238,000 employees in more than 27,000 shops worldwide, according to Fox 11. This incident comes after the widely publicized arrest last month in Philadelphia of two African American men who used the restroom without making a purchase.
Find out what's happening in La Cañada Flintridgefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
But those haven't been the only encounters at Starbucks locations that have been questioned. At a Torrance Starbucks, video shows a black man was denied using the restroom without a purchase when a white man was allowed to use the restroom without purchasing anything minutes before. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news from your California neighborhood. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app. Also, be sure to follow your local Patch on Facebook!)
In another incident, a Redondo Beach Starbucks employee sued the coffee company and was paid $42,000 after alleging he requested accommodations for his diabetes and was fired. Starbucks has a company-wide "racial bias training" planned for May 29.
Image via Patch staffer David Allen
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