Chief Johnny O'Mara took the picture of the "written" abuse by one of Starbucks baristas. Starbucks already fired the culprit. (Image via Fox News)

Insulting a police officer, Starbucks fires one of its baristas

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Retail & Food Services
Dec 01, 2019
2187
A cup of coffee on the Thanksgiving morning went “heart-wrenching” for a police officer in Kiefer, Oklahoma, United States (U.S).

On Thursday, a Facebook post by Chief Johnny O’Mara, a police officer from the Kiefer Police Department, showed that while he was taking five drinks, for the dispatchers, at a Starbucks café in Glenpool, he had received “written abuse” by an employee of Starbucks.

Attaching a photo as proof in his post, O’Mara showed the derogatory term “PIG” printed on all five cups' labels instead of names. O’Mara said that at first, he did not realize the labels until a customer pointed it out for him.

Starbucks immediately offered an apology to O’Mara and offered a “corrected” label; but, the officer declined the offer. Meanwhile, the barista, who did the “mischievous” action, was suspended pending the investigation.

Following up on the incident, Starbucks announced that it had fired the barista who gave the “PIG”-labeled cup in the “unacceptable” incident on Friday.

Starbucks said that the “Starbucks Partner” who gave the derogatory cup used “poor judgment” and violated the company’s policy. Furthermore, Starbucks emphasized that the action of the former employee did not represent the deep appreciation the coffee shop has for the police officers.

While O’Mara did not take this personally against Starbucks, the police officer said that it was kind of “irksome” and “disrespectful” knowing that an “absolute and total” disrespect was what he got when he had to miss “lavish meal with his family and fun football game” on Thanksgiving day to just guard the small town of Kiefer.

Kiefer is considered small with a population fewer than 1,700 people.

Starbucks and Kiefer Police Department, through a joint statement, hoped to use the incident as an example to leverage civility for all people. Especially, appreciation for the police officers who work tirelessly to keep the communities safe.

Also noted in the joint statement, Starbucks also intended to hold a “Coffee with a Cop” event, a get-together event for the baristas and police officers, to discuss the essential role the dispatchers and police officers play in maintaining a safe environment.

Source: https://bit.ly/2Lan6Cy

Business , F&B , Scandal , U.S , Starbucks , Coffee , Police , Derogatory , Abuse