Starbucks employee fired for ridiculing customer with stammer

‘Getting this kind of treatment from people, especially service employees, only scars them’

(Getty Images)

A Starbucks barista at a US branch of the chain has been fired for mocking a customer for his speech impediment, it’s been reported.

Tan Lekwijit, a student from Philadelphia, explained on Facebook how his friend Sam had become subjected to ridicule when recently ordering a coffee.

“My friend Sam who is a stutterer stuttered on his name when ordering a coffee at Starbucks,” he wrote.

“The barista said, ‘Okay, S-s-s-sam.” When he received his coffee, he was shocked to see that his name on the cup was written as “SSSAM, which was disrespectful.”

Sam decided to complain directly to Starbucks Customer Service, sending them an email to enlighten them on the offensive situation.

However, the initial response that he received was underwhelming, with the coffee chain offering him an apology and $5 (£3.78) in compensation.

Starbucks allegedly deleted Mr Lekwijit’s original post on the company’s Facebook page, which is why he then chose to post on his own profile instead.

The company has since responded to his post, commenting: “We want our stores to serve as a welcoming place for everyone who visits and want to ensure our partners provide a positive experience.

“Our local leadership has reached out to Sam to better understand what took place and the specifics of his experience and apologise directly.

“We have zero tolerance for discrimination and are addressing this immediately.”

However, the company has been criticised by other Facebook users for deleting Mr Lekwijit’s original post, with one person writing: “But no thank you for deleting it from your page.

“Pretending it didn’t happen doesn’t make me feel like you actually are taking ownership.”

Reggie Borges, senior manager of global communications at Starbucks, told Eater that the company understands that the situation should have been dealt with more efficiently.

“Giving a $5 gift card is certainly not the way we want to handle these things,” he said.

“We obviously want everyone to walk into our stores and have a great experience and that wasn’t reflective of that.”

Mr Borges also revealed that the employee in question has since been dismissed from the company.

Mr Lekwijit stated that his intention for writing the Facebook post hadn’t been to get anyone in trouble, but to raise awareness about improper treatment of people with speech impediments.

“There are many people with speech disorders who are in a worse position than my friend’s and struggle with self-esteem and self-confidence [sic],” he wrote.

“Getting this kind of treatment from people, especially service employees, only scars them - and I beg Starbucks employees to have this in mind.”

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Starbucks employees would be taking part in “diversity training” in order to discourage them from displaying prejudice against individuals of different ethnicities, genders or backgrounds.

The “bias training” programme was organised following the controversial arrest of two black men at a Starbucks in Philadelphia.