Especially training, that is so stressful and overwhelming.

I attempted 4 months in my position as barista, got hospitalized, was mistreated in my hospitalization and barely was able to check myself out. And gave myself a week before returning to work. I still broke down crying before the end of several of my shifts and even with extreme doses of depression and anxiety meds and the amount of therapy I’m going through I’m still limiting myself to 20 hours a week max.

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anywhere*

From my personal experience as someone who popped from job to job for a while Starbucks is the best place I’ve ever worked.

You have two choices, really. You can either tell them that you'll be released soon and would like to go through training to complete the process of being hired. That would show interest and resolve on your part, and could help you secure the job.

The other choice is to simply find work elsewhere. I don't think anybody would blame you for not wanting to work in a place that dropped you while you were in the hospital. Personally, I just hope whichever one you choose ends up treating you well.

Did you ever do a first sip or sign paperwork? If so you were hired and this might be against ethics and compliance. This seems very odd to me, especially since it was something medical and you could provide all paperwork to prove it. If you haven’t had a first sip/signed paperwork then it’s totally different but if you did this becomes merky waters for sure. But i wouldn’t want to work for a place that did this to me personally.

As gently as I can put this, this job is not one that would be healthy for you recovering from anything that would cause hospitalization. I would really recommend working elsewhere for a while if you’re able - and if you really want to work at Starbucks, try again in a few months perhaps. They seem open to that. Best of luck in your recovery.

it's genuinely wild to me that they chose to fire you instead of postponing training. i'm confused by the mention of legality as well? i'm sure it could lead to a lot of mistakes to have you thrown in without training but that's easily resolved by postponing training... i had a coworker (diff company, no starbucks) get stuck abroad on her first week of training so she finished her training a bit later than everyone else in her cohort. wasn't a big deal! i'm sorry this happened and i sincerely hope you're not massively affected :( i know losing your income can be scary

Call partner resources, and ask them for help. I would be curious to see what they say. Starbucks normally doesn’t have a probation period. We terminate only for legit grounds for termination and being away for medical reasons, let alone hospitalization I feel is not likely a reason we can let people go.

reach out to your DM. this happened to a coworker of mine and she was able to get her job back. its inexcusable to fire someone because of circumstances outside of their control.

I actually had a similar situation. I applied, got the interview, and before they could even schedule me for training, I got diabetes and was in pretty bad shape for a couple days. Luckily it worked out for me. I'm sorry it hasn't worked out for you, but I do know you will find a great job out there. Good luck!

I would honestly run. I like my job right now, it’s getting me into school and the people are nice, but I remember your first post. Any job that is going to react like this to a future employee being hospitalized isn’t worth it. You didn’t plan to get hospitalized, shit happens and a decent human would see that and be understanding. I’m not sure if any other messages had transpired between you and the manager between your posts, but if I was the manager I would be really embarrassed to have just left you hanging for around a week, not checking on you or seeing if you had heard anything, how you’re feeling, etc. and then terminating employment because of something you had no control over when you tried to reach out and find some time to make it work. My original manager when I started actually had missed his first few weeks of training because he got COVID, so it’s not some unheard of thing.

If you really do want to work at Starbucks, try to find another store close by. I’m not sure if it would be flagged in the system, but if they bring it up you can just tell them that you were supposed to begin training at this store in July, but unfortunately were hospitalized and it did not work out. If you have any other jobs you are more interested in, look into those. Starbucks is really a stressful job, but what makes me not want to shove myself in the cooler is that there are people at my store who look out for each other, and my manager is understanding.

I don’t see why they could find the hours on the schedule for the week you were hospitalized but not the week after, this feels like discrimination to me

If your biggest question is what to say? Don’t respond at all. Not necessary. As to others talking about legality or ethics and compliance; unfortunately there’s nothing. Medical leave only applies to employees with a company for over a year. Just the world we live in unfortunately. The reality is the manager needed to fill the role asap and despite what other posters have said, to do training correctly, it has to be well planned.

I can’t respond to everything, but I did want to thank you all for your kind words and advice; it means a lot to me.

Just to clarify, I’m not upset with the manager—I respect her decision and was just hoping for a second opinion, which you have more than given to me. I asked about postponing my training, but it sounds like they won’t be training again until September, so I’m going to do what a lot of you said and take this as a sign.

Thank you again. This has been a stressful time for me, and I’m grateful for all the help.

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It could be on the note of not letting people know when _____ is there or giving out the schedule since they haven't technically even started yet? I remember when I was training my manager wrote down my schedule for me, separate from the DCR.

Agreed. Call Partner Resources. Perhaps you could restart with another store.

OP needs to contact an employment lawyer!! Might get a nice payout.

At will employment, no contract. As such no wrongly termination. Only way it would be wrongful if they fired her after she asked for accommodation for disability and they fired her instead.

Could they not just…Extend their training schedule?

It’s not illegal. Starbucks is an at will employer and can fire for any reason they want as long as it’s not discriminatory. When it comes to medical situations, it’s very clear cut what you cannot fire someone for. Being gone from work for an extended period of time without requesting it prior, nor taking an LOA is grounds for termination at any job ive worked at.


Does that mean OPs manager is in the right? Absolutely not, and they can go fuck themselves for being such a piece of shit. its not like the barista trainers sat there and trained nobody for the days OP missed. Unless she hired and trained someone while OP is gone, its a very stupid idea.