Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Incident with hostile Barista yesterday, looking for advice. (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by headysalad
I work at a small store. I've been with the company for a total of 8 years and have worked at my current store for two. We recently got a transfer and she started out awesome but a few people mentioned she was kind of crazy. I thought she was great but can be a bit snippy at times. Yesterday she came on in an awful mood and was being super short with me. We got into an argument about rinsing urns and she screamed at me on the floor that I was a horrible employee and suck at my job. Later on I asked what her problem is with me because I've worked here for 2 years and have never more than some resolved tiffs. She starter yelling at me and acting insane. I got really frightened and freaked out because I have really bad anxiety. The whole time yelling that I'm shitty at my job, I'm a horrible shift, i am the worst employer and everyone talks about me and hates me. She said all of this yelling and i was so freaked out and she was being super hostile and I gave them the shift keys and left.
Now my boss is trying to fire me. I understand a walk off is an automatic termination but i felt scared and threatened. I couldn't think of anything to resolve the situation since everytime i tried to speak to her she was hostile and mean. I was having a panic attack and didnt know what else to do except leave.
Is there anything i can do about this or am I just without a job?
Sorry for any typos im on mobile!
Now my boss is trying to fire me. I understand a walk off is an automatic termination but i felt scared and threatened. I couldn't think of anything to resolve the situation since everytime i tried to speak to her she was hostile and mean. I was having a panic attack and didnt know what else to do except leave.
Is there anything i can do about this or am I just without a job?
Sorry for any typos im on mobile!
extrashotE 14 points 4y ago
Call PCC. Sounds like a case for HR to ms.
abrumm94 4 points 4y ago
If you are a shift and she is a barista, couldn’t you have sent her home? Or Atleast put her in her place seeing as you were technically her supervisor at the time? I feel like maybe the other shift or baristas should have stepped in too. It shouldn’t have gone on for as long as it did.
kayvag 1 points 4y ago
Some stores have crazy labor laws now that if you send someone home early you get fined. It’s like that in NYC right now.
lilalbis 2 points 4y ago
Unfortunately if I were your manager and my boss has a policy that anyone who walks out on a shift is fired you are probably in the wrong here. Especially since in your post you seem like you knew this was a policy before you decided to leave work. If your manager chooses not to fire you and his/her boss finds out they broke policy, their jobs are potentially on the line. Very tough situation but learn from it.
headysalad [OP] 3 points 4y ago
I did not know this was policy, I just found out after I told my boss what happened. If i had known I wouldn't have walked out.
lilalbis 0 points 4y ago
...why did you not tell your boss/manager you were leaving? I really hope you work in a labor union state or you might be shit out of luck.
lilalbis 2 points 4y ago
I mean... why didn't you just go to your supervisor and put in a formal complaint? If they cant do anything right then and there, pull out your cell phone and record the next incident. Even if you cant use your phone at work, I assume your bosses would rather see you using your phone rather than just walking out on your shift, especially when you explain why you were using it. I'm not saying your coworker isn't a crazy person, but you need to act like an adult in these situations. Your coworker called you lazy and bad at your job, they did not threaten your safety or life...how are your managers supposed to expect you to act in the future if this happens again. What happens when a customer acts like this towards you in the future...are you just going to walk out on your shift?
iWantToBeARealBoy 7 points 4y ago
There's a big difference between a customer who is going to leave in a few minutes yelling at you than there is a coworker yelling at you with whom you're supposed to work with for hours at a time multiple times a week. Yelling at another coworker, insulting another coworker, is unacceptable. OP shouldn't have walked out, but I understand why they did. Its not like they're a new barista, either. This person has been with the company for 8 years seemingly without a problem. The new girl is 100% at fault in this situation and if EVERYONE is saying that she's crazy, it needs to be addressed.
lilalbis 1 points 4y ago
Nobody is saying the barista isnt an asshole and crazy person. Youre missing a really big point here though. OP never brought this up to her supervisors, did not tell them she was leaving, and apparently didn't go back to work that day or call their place of employment to tell them what happened. It's also really important to know whether OP is an at will employee and/or whether or not they live in a right to work state.
iWantToBeARealBoy 4 points 4y ago
Seems like OP WAS the supervisor, and she did tell the people she was working with she was leaving because she gave them the keys. OP said she brought it up to her boss after it happened, and didn't know the barista was like this until the incident happened.
I agree that what OP did was wrong, but there is definitely someone who is MORE in the wrong here and should have harsher consequences. People also need to recognize how severe and debilitating anxiety can be for some people. Since it isn't always something you can see, people tend to forget that.
I agree that what OP did was wrong, but there is definitely someone who is MORE in the wrong here and should have harsher consequences. People also need to recognize how severe and debilitating anxiety can be for some people. Since it isn't always something you can see, people tend to forget that.
lilalbis -1 points 4y ago
WHAT!?!?! If OP is the supervisor this kinda makes it even worse.
Let's start with the Starbucks. I would hope there is at all times someone in the store with the authority to fire (or at the very least send the person home for the day) a horrendous employee on a whim if necessary. If there isnt then Starbucks has some serious issues they need to figure out.
Now lets talk about your customer comparison saying there is a huge difference between a customer and an employee. I managed a local carwash not to long ago and one day I had maybe a 25-30year old woman stay at our store for 3hours to wait for my regional manager so she could complain. She said my washers did a horrible job on her interior and I had to try and explain the wash she purchased didn't include an interior wash/vacuum. She simply wouldn't accept this and began blaming the "greeter" who neglected to tell her the wash she was getting didn't include the interior (because we hand them what is basically a menu spelling out everything included in each wash). eventually I had to just ignore her and continue working to keep things running. I couldn't force her to leave and I definitely couldnt just leave the store. In fact once my regional manager did get there he made me apologize and offer her a free wash. This is because businesses value their customers and their reputation in the community. Even if the person is a complete ass hole or idiot or both, your owner does not want them spreading shit about their store.
The last thing that needs to be said is if OP's anxiety is that bad, then they arent fit for the job. I understand the barista is a bitch but your job as a manager/supervisor is to literally handle bad employees and situations exactly like this. Like I said before, OP better hope they don't live in a right to work state.
Let's start with the Starbucks. I would hope there is at all times someone in the store with the authority to fire (or at the very least send the person home for the day) a horrendous employee on a whim if necessary. If there isnt then Starbucks has some serious issues they need to figure out.
Now lets talk about your customer comparison saying there is a huge difference between a customer and an employee. I managed a local carwash not to long ago and one day I had maybe a 25-30year old woman stay at our store for 3hours to wait for my regional manager so she could complain. She said my washers did a horrible job on her interior and I had to try and explain the wash she purchased didn't include an interior wash/vacuum. She simply wouldn't accept this and began blaming the "greeter" who neglected to tell her the wash she was getting didn't include the interior (because we hand them what is basically a menu spelling out everything included in each wash). eventually I had to just ignore her and continue working to keep things running. I couldn't force her to leave and I definitely couldnt just leave the store. In fact once my regional manager did get there he made me apologize and offer her a free wash. This is because businesses value their customers and their reputation in the community. Even if the person is a complete ass hole or idiot or both, your owner does not want them spreading shit about their store.
The last thing that needs to be said is if OP's anxiety is that bad, then they arent fit for the job. I understand the barista is a bitch but your job as a manager/supervisor is to literally handle bad employees and situations exactly like this. Like I said before, OP better hope they don't live in a right to work state.
headysalad [OP] 5 points 4y ago
I have really bad anxiety and she was screaming at me and I couldn't handle it and broke down. It was over the course of 3 hours and I couldn't take it anymore and I didn't know what else to do. There was another shift working at the time so I just gave him the shift keys. I felt threatened by her and I just shut down complerely. In the 8 years I've worked for starbucks no customer has ever acted like that towards me. And she didn't call me lazy, she commented on how I run my shifts.
LuckyWaters4 3 points 4y ago
So I can't handle reading through all these comments (apparently not everyone even works at Starbucks? like what), but I can definitely understand how you responded, that sounds super stressful. I know it's been eight years since you took the training re: sexual harassment and harassment, but this sounds like pretty textbook harassment actually. In the case of a hostile work environment, it seems perfectly within your right to exit the situation any way you know how. Similar to what would have happened if you were injured at work or were physically attacked-- there are exceptions that would require you to leave before your shift is over.
Yes, in hindsight there are probably ways you could have handled this better, but faced with a psychotic employee, I'm sure that it wouldn't have been easy to just order her to leave.
Definitely involve PCC/HR, your DM, etc. If this experience has completely soured your relationship with your SM, than I would consider transferring. Explain the situation fully, embrace how you could have done things differently but also what might have gone wrong, and keep in mind that you have eight years of experience that points to this being an isolated incident, not an indication that you are bad at your job or irresponsible.
Yes, in hindsight there are probably ways you could have handled this better, but faced with a psychotic employee, I'm sure that it wouldn't have been easy to just order her to leave.
Definitely involve PCC/HR, your DM, etc. If this experience has completely soured your relationship with your SM, than I would consider transferring. Explain the situation fully, embrace how you could have done things differently but also what might have gone wrong, and keep in mind that you have eight years of experience that points to this being an isolated incident, not an indication that you are bad at your job or irresponsible.
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