Blogger Missy Allison reported via her website
Lil'FamilyBlog.com that she witnessed the incident at the chain's
Long Island branch in New York.
According to Allison's account, the store manager scolded a gay
employee named Jeffrey for about "15 to 20 minutes" on his
"personal life" and eventually fired him in front of
customers.
In her blog, 'I Know Starbucks is Not an Anti-Gay, Homophobic
Company (by Policy)…. BUT…' she claims she witnessed: "a gross
and unapologetic display of ignorance and intolerance" from three
of their employees, concluding that she has "never, ever in any
context seen anything so unprofessional".
She concluded that the "blazen" homophobia forced the victim to
retreat to the bathroom, where he cried, before being
dismissed.
"This man was losing his job because he was gay," she
added.
Starbucks have released a response to the claim on their
website.
Entitled 'Our Dedication to Embrace Diversity' it says that:
"Starbucks has supported the LGBT community for many years and we
have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind."
They claim to be "disheartened" by the alleged controversy in an
East Coast Store and are taking "any necessary steps to make this
right".
