A former Starbucks barista is suing her former employer, alleging she was fired from one of it Santa Monica locations for complaining that a customer was following and sexually harassing her.
The woman’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment and failure to prevent harassment. She is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A Starbucks representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
According to the suit filed April 11, the woman worked at a Starbucks location on Lincoln Boulevard, taking orders, preparing drinks and processing payments.
“Plaintiff was also encouraged to interact with customers as it is part of the Starbucks experience,” the suit states. “In fact, Starbucks expects that baristas such as plaintiff have a human connection with each customer.”
Before the alleged harassment, she received no significant criticism from management for her work, according to her complaint.
However, the atmosphere at the store changed after one male customer began making inappropriate comments about the plaintiff’s appearance and “communicated that he was interested in being with (her) romantically (and) socially,” the suit alleges.
“The unwelcome conduct included (the) customer making sexual advances at plaintiff (and) on more than one occasion (he) followed (her) around,” the suit alleges.
The customer also looked into the barista’s eyes and said he wanted to have sex with her, according to her court papers.
The customer’s conduct made her uncomfortable and she told him to stop his behavior, the suit states. She says she also asked her supervisor to “do something to make the customer’s actions stop” and asked for a transfer to another store.
She alleges the supervisor ignored her concerns and that the customer retaliated for her complaints against him by making up complaints against her and the beverages she prepared for him.
After the plaintiff complained to her supervisor about the customer’s allegations, her boss “responded by writing her up for the false customer accusations,” the suit states.
The customer continued to harass the barista throughout her employment and she was eventually fired because she opposed the man’s behavior and complained to management, the suit alleges.
— Wire reports