You’re all amazing.

I know FIRST hand how hard you work and how much MORE you deserve.

I see all of you closers that look at the tiniest things.

Grabbing the towel one last time on your way out just to wipe down “one more spot.”

I see all of you that have had bagels, bananas, and hot water thrown at you.

I see all of you that have had overdoses in your stores.

I see all of you picking up endless amounts of tinfoil in the bathroom.

I see all of you that have had incredibly terrifying things happen in and right outside of your stores.

I know how it impacts you.

I see all of you that have had all kinds of other experiences that hurt your soul. All the things you seem to see that nobody else does.

I see all of you that feel like there is no way out.

You’re not sure which way to flip the card. You want to speak up, but you need your job and you don’t want to be at any risk of losing any money that you already don’t have enough of.

I see all of you openers who do things that nobody else really gets or understands even needs to be done.

I see every single one of you managers and supervisors that are doing your best every single day.

Thank you for inspiring ME.
Thank you for nurturing MY human spirit.
Thank you for being the ones to support me when leadership did not.

I am forever in support of the hardest working, brightest, AND least represented members of Starbucks.

One day Howard will realize that the most VALUABLE asset he has is the very group not invited to a seat the table.

Backstory:

I am an injured store manager.

My initial injury happened when a STABBING death took place.

I was a supervisor when that happened.

Me and another supervisor crawled out to lock the door and the two large gates because we believed we were in an active shooter situation.

The other partners were left in the back under the desk TRYING to call out. It was difficult to get through to 911.

We moved the fridge to give them additional protection before we crawled out.

When I crawled out I saw that the last customer I had helped was still in our cafe area.

She was completely traumatized.

Barely able to stand.

We carried her into the back. We still didn’t know what happened. There was a lot of blood and dozens of people screaming. It was a very disorienting situation.

She was right next to where Gabrielle Garcia was stabbed to death more than 20 times.

This customer was from South Korea here in Seattle on a 12 hour layover.

Starbucks leadership CAME to us.

I was fed a sandwich by the regional director.

I let her know how worried I was about our customer who was all alone.

First time in AMERICA with a mission of seeing the Space Needle and buying a mug from STARBUCKS while she is in the city for 12 hours.

All of the information can be found online.

November 2, 2018

Seattle Center

Crime happened on a technicality line, so it only ever discusses Mod Pizza in the media.

Air and a thin metal bar separated our customer and Gabrielle Garcia.

I am not here to do anything except share my story so that you may know what REALLY happens if you ever get injured at Starbucks.

I am here to help you understand what Partner Care looks like if you ever become injured while working at Starbucks.

First, you will never speak of the event again. Okay?

If you ever bring attention to it, people do not know what you’re talking about. Okay?

If you end up getting a report from a surgeon that shows Starbucks you cannot do those tasks any longer they won’t help you with any ACTUAL accommodations.

Have you ever worked in a store with a partner that had such significant limitations that it felt insulting that they were there?

They were using up actual labor hours while you worked twice as hard as they stood against the counter because that is all they could do until a customer came. Of course you were insulted.

The reason why that happens is because instead of Starbucks finding an appropriate accommodation for that partner (finding a completely different role within the company OR offering retraining to get you back asap you will be asked to APPLY for a new job within the company.

Your claim manager who works FOR Starbucks will also make a lot of encouraging comments about seeking employment OUTSIDE Starbucks. Like, multiple times.

Yes. You. The injured worker.

You will be stuck in an endless loop. It’s very intentional. It is designed this way to frustrate and discourage people from getting actual help.

They would much rather have you give up.

You have a lot of rights Starbucks doesn’t tell you about, but I will.

Be safe. Make good decisions for yourself. Listen to your body.

Love, heaterboo