With a lawsuit filed in Manhattan recently, 12 representatives of New York’s Deaf population are making it clear that discrimination is not acceptable. The actions of one Starbucks employee has now caused hefty problems for the company as a whole. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for constant abuse and discrimination. Check out what happened after the jump.
While gathering for multiple group meetings, deaf customers were mocked and made fun of for their speech. In addition to such disrespectful behavior, employees of the restaurants resorted to calling the police to have the groups ejected.
According to the lawsuit, “The police officers found no illegal conduct and apologized to the plaintiffs before reprimanding Starbucks employees for calling them, the lawsuit said. The plaintiffs had suffered humiliation, embarrassment and emotional pain and suffering as a result of the Starbucks employees’ actions.”
Jamie Riley, Starbucks spokeswoman stated in response: “Discrimination of any kind at Starbucks in unacceptable. [And] we take these allegations very seriously and believe that they are neither in line with our values nor our track record of engaging the deaf community as partners and as customers.”
