Lawsuit: Starbucks Employees Mocked Deaf Customers, Called Police To Have Them Kicked Out...

[jocelyncs]

Source: Seattle PI

NEW YORK (AP) - Some Starbucks workers in the city were so rude to deaf customers they mocked them and called the police to try to get them kicked out, a lawsuit says.

Comments

[liliaeth]

I'm not usually in favor of people getting fired, but this...

Why the fuck wouldn't you serve a paying customer who isn't doing anything wrong? Why would you want to lose profit like that?

Like with that deaf group, wouldn't any manager be happy to have a group of regular customers coming in and buying your merchandise on a recurring basis? Customers whom as they get to know the place will probably return even more often?

[cindyanne1]

Right? I'm just stunned by this. What a loss for everyone. The meeting group lost what could have been a great place to meet, the Starbucks lost what could have been happily returning customers, and the employees lost what could have been a great opportunity for customer service and inclusion. :(

[wowsolovely]

As long as I remember I have seen groups of deaf people meet up at starbucks and I mean very large groups. This starbucks had no problem with it...I have no idea what the hell is wrong with the people at this starbucks.

[the_physicist]

you'd think, but that doesn't apply when your customers don't look like trendy hipsters or bankers or whatever. >_> the customers need to reflect the 'company image'. and don't forget there are a lot of bigoted people around who say they 'are scared' of people with disabilities, especially those who don't talk in clear speech.

[tabaqui]

Is this one location or several? It's not very clear. I hope the company actually stands behind their statement and fixes this, because it's beyond disgusting.

[thelilyqueen]

Same. And even from a purely business perspective Starbucks has built their brand in part around liberal appeal - equal same-sex partner benefits, selling fair trade products, community charities, etc. Time to see if they're going to live up to it.

[zinnia_rose]

What the fuck? I hope those shitty excuses for human beings are fired immediately, including the manager who instructed his employees not to serve deaf people.

[synthesizia]

Thank god there's a record of a police call. So even if their managers threaten employee witnesses with job loss, there's documented evidence against them.

I do not understand refusing to serve deaf people. Do they refuse blind people too? So bizarre this store thought such blatant discrimination was okay and would no way blow back on the reputation of the company.

I feel so terrible for the person that god yelled out by the employee. Like, what kind of person would just BLOW UP at a deaf person for wanting coffee?

[angelmaye]

Where are all the other customers in the store?

If I saw an employee laughing at a customer that was deaf, or refuse serve to them, you can bet they'd have a scene on their hands, and we'd ALL be on the five o'clock news.

I just can't believe that others in the store(s) just let this happen.

[louisiane_fille]

You know how people are though; if it doesn't involve them directly, they avoid getting involved.

[thelilyqueen]

People do tend to avoid getting involved. Sometimes out of cowardice or fear for their safety, sometimes because they didn't see/hear enough of the interaction to feel certain they understood what was going on. A customer and employee shouting at each other would catch my attention from across the shop; the increasingly heated conversation leading up to it not so much.

[perthro]

Bystander effect. Everyone assumes everyone else is going to do something. So no one does anything.

If I'd heard it (I'm going deaf, too), I'd have thrown a fit, though. I don't care how I look.