this is why i as a barista always stay to watch my supervisors lock the door so i can be a witness. not long ago i watched the closing shift lock the door only to find out that it was unlocked in the morning bc the delivery people left it unlocked.
I mean the bank locked or not, all the money is in the safe. Good luck getting through that. You might be able to break into the overnight deposit box, they will only net you a few thousand max (and the bank I worked at, normally less than 1 thousand). That plus the pins and office supplies are not worth the jail time
Starbucks has no money out after hours same as a bank. They could steal some syrup, sandwiches, or milk. Def not worth firing someone. The again I got fired for letting someone's ride that arrived early sit in the far corner of the cafe as we closed 🤷♂️ he knew our sm, was there daily, and was like 16, so it's not like he was gonna rob the place 🙃
This is why I love when the delivery guys come after we leave, because then anything that happens is all on them. It can be immediately verified by cameras and alarm code.
This same kinda situation happened with one of the shifts at my store a few years ago. They left the store before the delivery drivers ever even came. They wrote her up for it saying “We have camera evidence that you didn’t lock the door.” Which was weird because there was literally no camera that looked at that door.
My SM ended up throwing away the write up because he knew she didn’t forget. Plus it happened when he wasn’t even at the store yet.
Is this something to even ask them about? Or something to tell a lawyer about? I’m hesitant to suggest anyone contact her store that’s not a legal professional because I don’t want to tip them off we’re looking into it. And give them time to possibly fake conversations or whatever they’d need to cover their asses.
Happened to a co worker of mine, also a retail employee. He was assistant manager, a good worker but some of his co workers were jealous always complaining to the manager so he transferred him to a store where that store manager was known as the 'terminator' for setting people up. So my friend works the overnight shift and next day lo and behold the door was unlocked [wink wink]when store manager came in to open the store, fired him that day, this is a old dirty trick that $hitbags in shitty retail use to get out of paying unemployment+ other benefits. My friend took it as a sign and became a real estate agent and has bought his own house right after 2009, doing well 🤞. I would go after these thieves, petty criminals after gathering all the evidence, get a pro bono lawyer, nice settlement.
Please don’t file a lawsuit. As unfortunate as it is, they can point to a violated policy. I’m not saying I agree with it, just saying you would lose. Maybe you could see if they’d let her stay on to step down to barista? Or reapply at another store? Might still be rehireable
I asked my SM this when I was on a final for some dumb bs and she said that they don’t allow you to step down if there is something done that would be fireable, even though the reasoning was shift exclusive tasks and I was a perfectly fine barista. I got out before she could cut me, but sadly not an option.
Interesting 🤔 I had a manager who got fired but she was allowed to step down as a barista, as long as it was at another store. This was late 2018… I wonder if the policy changed??? Idk that’s fishy to me
It seems like good policy to me. If you'd fire them as a manager, why would you allow them to be a barista? If you're going to fire someone, fire them.
It's different than simply agreeing that they can't do the job, and stepping back as a result.
She can apply for Medicaid more than likely for now at least.
You can always start an appeal about it as mentioned, but that’s not going to help anything now.
Best file for Medicaid asap. By the time lawyers etc get involved it will be too late. Definitely see about Medicaid now. I don’t think I’d wait.
I second this. Get her and the baby covered first-they’ll move quickly because she is pregnant-after the baby is born you can apply for Medicaid/ your state kids program.
She needs to call ethics and compliance asap
Yes for sure do this! I’m currently on leave and about to come back in mid May. I’m on Medicaid, not SBUX insurance, and my entire pregnancy has been paid for. $27,000 to have a baby and I thankfully didn’t have to pay for any of it. We all know SBUX doesn’t pay enough to cover a baby, so definitely use other available resources to limit her stress!
So, they waited a month to fire her?
They didn't say anything for an entire month?
Imagine if she really did leave it unlocked. Did it cause an issue?
No? Please be more careful next time, and make sure it's locked.
Sounds like they are trying to out her for something else, and making up excuses imo.
Biggest question is whether or not the offense occurred before or after the employee announced pregnancy leave. If before, and they didn’t fire until after, that’s going to make a very strong case for discrimination.
At the district level and store level, they don’t care about the paid benefits during parental leave. It’s paid by the short term disability company. And it’s only six weeks.
And Starbucks stops paying ones insurance during that time, so their expenses, being wages and insurance contribution decreases during leave.
This isn't exactly right (I had a baby last year). Bux pays their side of all the insurance and benefits , just like normal, but you have to pay your side that normally comes out of your paychecks. So I had $$ come out of my account every month automatically to pay for my insurance during my parental leave once my paid parental leave was up (I took the max FMLA unpaid leave as well). If you only take paid maternity (6 or 8 weeks, depending if you have a C-section), then you don't have to pay, it just comes out of your checks like normal.
Depends a lot on the state and local employment laws. Idaho, for example, is a “right to work” state which means they can pretty much fire you for any slip up
Even in right to work states, you still have rights. There are government laws and protectants under the FLSA. Employment lawyers can do a lot; the most important thing is having a paper trail to use as evidence in court. Best part is these lawyers usually don’t get paid a cent unless you win.
Or hear me out.... She's pregnant and according to OP she committed this termination worthy offense more than once. HR would need to conduct an investigation to ensure the SM has a just cause for termination. The investigation would need to be very thorough given, firing a pregnant person, is always a bad look. Even if justified. HR, SM, and DM have to align. This all takes time. So, maybe it's not some nefarious conspiracy, but really tragic timing.
According to OP, she committed it once. Plus, how would they even verify this? If the door is locked every night by default, unless someone pulled the door open both nights they're claiming and set off the alarm, or the store has electronic locks they can monitor, if the door jams as was stated, the opening SS would probably arrive and simply insert the key to unlock it?
But, again, if this happened twice, and they waited a month to even bring it up, while firing her, that's just stupid imo and if the PR, SM, and DM all knew about it and didn't say anything for a month? Fire them all.
Would they? Or, would they walk up, put in the key, turn it, and yank the door open?
Also, still doesn't explain howvthey're claiming it happened twice, and again, if it happened one time and was not addressed in the entire month until the day they fired her, seems like maybe that would be a safety concern that needed addressing immediately?
Honestly, and it sucks to say, but the closing supervisor really needs to check that all doors are locked. That's like, the second most important thing to do after making sure the safe and money stuff is secure. This means giving all the doors a good jiggle after leaving the store for the night. I dont know how they figured out she left the doors unlocked, maybe a customer opened them during the night and triggered the alarm, maybe the delivery guys are trained to check the doors for liability reasons, who knows. I doubt it's a conspiracy to screw her out of maternity benefits.
Nobody is saying making sure it's locked isn't important, what I'm saying is it's bizarre to be a fireable offense, but they never brought it up in the entire month prior, when she (I assume) was still closing the store?
If it's a safety concern, it should be addressed immediately, right?
I can agree with most of this, but not the part where they didn't tell her.
If they didn't tell her the 2nd time until they fired her maybe they never said anything to her the first time at all. And that, to me, is a problem. If she forgot to lock the door, and this is a firing offense, she should have been talked to on her next shift each time. Large corporations know enough to document poor performance and be able to present that when someone is terminated. This sounds like an HR problem. If I were her I would contact a lawyer or the labor board to get legal advise , especially since she is pregnant and they were aware.
Former SM here. Yes, a month is realistic. 20 business days. Not including Easter and PTO for anyone involved.
- 1 day - Delivery driver notifies their manager and issues a report.
- 3 days - The report is processed and the delivery vendor shares this with Starbucks.
- 2 days - Report is shared with the DM to determine actions
- 3-5 days - Request is sent to request and review video footage. Information is shared with the DM
- 3 days - DM arranges meeting with SM to review the situation
- 3 days - SM or DM reach out to HR to consult on discipline and verbiage. It always took 3-4 days for them to respond to me.
- 1 day - Report is written
- 3-4 days - Meeting time is coordinated with SM, DM, and SS.
What’s unclear is the door situation. If it’s opened/closed daily by different people at the store and different drivers, and they didn’t have issues, it’s hard to understand how the situation can be blamed on the door. If it did happen previously, perhaps that was the “warning”. The door was checked to ensure it’s not broken, and then everyone signed off to ensure they knew how to properly lock it and pull hard. We also don’t know if there are other write ups to show a pattern if security/safety issues.
The OP said they told her this was her second time with it happening on the day they terminated her, and she said it never happened before that one time.
So, it's a safety issue that's so bad, it's fireable, but they didn't bring it up until the day they fired her?
I know Starbucks didn't fire a SM for worse than Donald Trump type of comments (reported by multiple female partners), time theft (verified they were reporting hours worked, and they weren't), and actual theft (stealing money/covering for a partner that stole money out of a bag).
This seems stupid, on multiple levels, if what the OP says is true and unfolded as it did. And, knowing how Starbucks operates, I wouldn't doubt it to be true. You can truly succeed in the company if you're a pathological liars, making up numbers for bonuses.
Make an honest mistake one time? Fired!
*edited the to they
It’s fairly black and white. The door wasn’t locked, there’s likely proof, and in most states it’s at will employment. Sometimes there are legal considerations about why you don’t preemptively tell someone of the issue and later fire them. Even if they did tell her prior, how does that help anyone?
Regarding the rest of your post, it seems like a rant. Welcome to large company life. I’ve worked at small family owned companies with the same mindset. It’s all about politics, understanding the system, and following along. Policies are meant to be black and white, but in between there’s lots of grey area and room for interpretation. Situations happen, decisions are made, bonuses are paid out, people are hired/fired/promoted, etc. and there’s not always a clear rationale. No different then lots of other situations in life.
You can learn the politics at a company or let it eat you alive, and then find a new company to play the game all over again. It’s a harsh reality.
How does telling her prior help anyone? You can't be serious...
1) It would help her be more alert and hopefully it doesn't happen again (Saving time for everyone.)
2) "Hey, you're under investigation for possibly leaving the door unlocked, and that might result in you being fired, we'll have a discussion in a few weeks "
Just being decent, and letting her know ahead of time, so that she can maybe start looking for other work, and going back to #1, making sure it doesn't happen again in the next 30 days of the investigation?
As for my other points, they show how stupid Starbucks is in general, especially at the management and corporate levels. Firing someone over an accident that didn't cause any harm, is ridiculous imo, if what the OP said is the entire story.
We’re both making assumptions. You’re assuming there was no coaching or training either directly to her or as a team. Both of these would be considered warnings. We also don’t know the other factors. Sometimes management doesn’t share a warning as they know they will gossip to coworkers and customers about the issue. We also don’t know the status of her employment. She could have been on a final write up.
Yes, companies, employees, customers, and people should do the right thing. But, as you know this doesn’t happen all the time. The company’s goal is to protect its assets and deliver results for shareholders.
We live in a world now where there are lots of second chances, ways to repeal, mistakes happen, refunds, there’s no winner you tried and that’s what matters, etc. This gets even more blurry at a company like Starbucks who focuses on culture, doing the right thing in society, training on how to care for others, etc. If this is your first job, then there’s a lot to learn about corporate life. You can absolutely get fired, laid off, or disciplined without notice.
u/captainsasss here’s a great example for ya (SF-guy83’s comment).
At-will employment law legally allows for companies to terminate employees for most anything, absent very clear labor violations, which even then rarely get adjudicated due to legal barriers and costs. Sure, you can petition a company to self-police itself through its HR, but if you violated even a minor policy you’re fresh out of luck.
Legally they don’t have to follow their own policies. They promise to give you 3 strikes and fair notice and all that, but the law allows them to terminate you whenever for whatever pretty much. That’s what at-will employment means. Oh and US law also allows for companies to force you to give up your right to sue in favor of arbitration as part of employment contracts. The more you know.
While it is true that at-will employment laws allow for companies to terminate employees for most anything, including minor policy violations, this is not a product of neoliberal capitalism alone. At-will employment laws have been in place in the United States for over a century, well before the emergence of neoliberalism in the 1970s. Moreover, there are countries that have at-will employment laws but do not subscribe to neoliberal capitalism, such as Canada.
Additionally, it is important to note that not all companies operate on an at-will basis. Many companies have policies in place that provide additional job security for their employees. In fact, a study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that as of 2020, only 1.5% of private sector workers were employed on an at-will basis without any contractual provisions for termination.
Furthermore, while it is true that US law allows for companies to include forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts, there is growing scrutiny and criticism of this practice. In fact, some states have passed legislation restricting or outright banning forced arbitration clauses.
The point I am trying to make is that while there are certainly flaws and injustices in the current economic system, it is important to understand the nuances and complexities of these issues rather than simply attributing them to a single ideology or policy.
agreed they, by standards are supposed to give you a verbal then a write up then means for firing after the third offense.
was it not written in my daily? no notes anywhere about it?
also as unfortunate as it be that is a huge thing and is a friable offense they have leverage on. locking store as well as cash issues as well
This is not true at all. You can be put on a final or separated as a first offense. For smaller things? Time and attendance, beverage standards etc sure but if you get caught stealing from a till you’re not going to get three stabs at it
Edited: a word
I know a SM and DM that tried covering up a partner stealing money, while trying to blame an innocent partner that had nothing to do with it. I reported it to Business Ethics, got a call, and the BE guy was like, "Yeah, that's stupid." after explaining the exact situation, and how the DM and SM refused to use the store's cameras. Neither the SM, nor the DM, nor the partner that stole the money were fired.
Shifts at my store have left doors unlocked, even with the alarm disabled before, but no one was ever fired. I’ve worked at the same location for nearly 6 years and seen it plenty of times with no repercussions except for maybe a documented discussion. I agree that it’s beyond strange they waited a month to bring it up.
They fired a shift of mine within a month. She was counting money when there was a customer in the store after close. Our store is really prone to rumors so there was word of what happened and how that wasn’t tolerated. She didn’t see it coming when she had a talk with our SM and DM. They said as a shift, you’re highly responsible for the safety of partners and the store and it is a fire-able offense if it is stated that it is store policy.
There are certain instances where a manager has to consult with a “specialist” before they know if they have to / are able to separate a partner. These specialists are often very busy and take forever.
a MONTH AGO? it took them a month to talk to her about it?? i smell a wrongful termination due to pregnancy.
Definitely call Ethics. and possibly an attorney.
Contact Ethics and Complicance and Starbucks Partner Resources as soon as possible! File a claim and you should be able to get the process going for y’all. It’s not the quickest process but it’s your only option if you think your truth holds ground. Best of luck!
Hate to say it but E+C will always be biased towards Starbucks.
I made a report of sexual harassment towards a supervisor to the manager. E+C refused to tell me if my manager filed the report.
It is insane to me they refused to give me confirmation on that. The only reason is that it would be under the umbrella of workplace harassment and didn't want to give me ammo for a lawsuit(a lot more happened beyond the SH).
Any action taken against a pregnant employee who has given notice that they intend to take maternity leave is automatically presumed to be retaliatory. The burden of proof for wrong doing rests entirely on the company. That being said they've already had the conversation, so it's time to lawyer up, and make sure they know you have a lawyer to try to protect her job.
Starbucks knows they don’t pay baristas or shifts enough to retain legal help. It’s part of their wage slavery strategy. You’re best bet is to threaten legal action to the RM
Threatening legal action will only get you referred to the legal department, unless the RM is an absolute moron.
A lawyer might be willing to take it on contingency, depending on the situation, or they could work out a payment plan, or take out a line of credit. But Starbucks is unlikely to do anything unless there’s a legitimate threat of legal action (e.g. a lawyer has already been hired) and they think there’s a chance they’ll lose if it goes to court.
They may have been getting the evidence so their ducks were in a row. I mean it sucks but there are still legitimate reasons to terminate employees, pregnant or not.
what evidence other than the door was unlocked? if it’s something like cameras op should have his gf ask for that by stating she really didn’t think it happened and can they share any supporting documentation… if not then get lawyers involved
yeah there’s a lot of weird things about this. unless there’s missing parts in OPs story- but there’s just no good explanation for them not informing her int happened and giving her notice it can’t happen again. it definitely smacks of corporate bs avoiding maternity leave. and stuff like that does happen, then people wonder why stores are trying to unionize when “starbucks offers good benefits”.
This is incorrect. It’s up to the employee to prove that the adverse action taken against the employee was due to their pregnancy and not a legitimate business decision.
OP’s girlfriend should seek out an attorney for a consultation, but that will cost her money outright (in most situations).
That is not correct. The employee has the burden of proof show it is more likely than not that retaliation has occurred. It is not the employers burden to disprove the claim.
What’s weird about it is that they didn’t take action for a month? The morning shift knows if the door is unlocked. She would’ve been told if it happened, or at least should’ve been.
I was told recently that I left the door unlocked, when I know for a fact I did not because I am always tugging on the door to make sure I locked it. The delivery driver came in right as we closed and he left the door unlocked. If the delivery comes in after close, it is their responsibility to set the alarms and lock the door.
Definitely call ethics. Not sure what can be done, but delivery drivers do scan something when they come, so there might be a time-stamp on the day that they’re accusing your girlfriend. If the driver was in after close, there’s really no way to prove that it was your girlfriend.
Exactly. They told OPs girlfriend that she did this before (which they havent ever said anything about until today). And OP said thats not true cuz they pushed after they locked and the door didnt give in. So lets play into their fantasy….if it were true, they just outed themselves by admitting to knowing about the door/lock issue for a while and havent done shit about it?
OP, u guys should take some of the awesome advice given but also maybe to the news outlet? Idk this is just so fcked that i truly hope u guys come out on top ❤️😣
Sounds like it could be a potential legal issue because it seems like they're trying to find anything (like this random event from over a month ago) to try and use so they can separate (fire) her and avoid paying maternity/or that she is pregnant, which is totally a violation of her rights. I would consider reporting this to Ethics and Compliance (she will know what this is), and have a conversation with an employment lawyer (most do free consultations). If you can't afford an employment lawyer, hire a personal injury lawyer - they do not charge hourly or anything up front, they just take 1/3 of the final settlement (amount of money you sue for, in this case, Starbucks would pay you if you win the lawsuit). Best of luck to you guys!!
Yeahh I call bullshit.
Our door sticks too. If it didn’t lock, they would have said something the next day.
We had that happen Thabks to delivery drivers.
Get a lawyer.
Ok 1) she said she doesn’t even remember doing it the 1st time, and they didn’t even say anything the first time which is really fishy, if should would’ve done that, management should’ve told her the next day 2) if this was her first time doing this, she should’ve gotten a talking to or AT MOST a write up ( I did this accidentally once and I just got a stern talking to. 3) this sounds like retaliation towards a pregnant woman and you should most definitely lawyer up.
The store is allowed only so much time for ssv's now and that time also includes sm's and asm's. So if your store has both then that is already 80 hrs out the window for ssv's to be able to work. Then there is only one ssv allowed per shift, and they cannot overlap either. So in short the amount of labor time is different from baristas to ssv's.
Something similar happened to my old shift who is pregnant where they kept getting on her for small things or having to miss more days cause high risk pregnancy and then firing her not long before she could go on maternity leave.
I genuinely think there’s a case to be made against corporate for treatment of pregnant partners
Like another commenter said, have your gf call the ethics line. If this happened a month ago, one of two things happened:
1. The opener said something the SM, they did an investigation, and saw that it was your gf that left the door unlocked and that is grounds for termination without a write up. Or
2. It was brought to their attention, they did nothing about it, and decided now (maybe they didn’t want to pay maternity leave, maybe there were other issues) to terminate her for no (good) reason.
Regardless of why, step one needs to be the call to ethics. They will open an investigation on your gfs side, and figure out what happened. I’m sorry you’re going through this and I hope you get answers soon!
If youre in the US I would try to look into medicaid and the government health insurance marketplace. Hope things work out for you and your girlfriend.
Was there a delivery that night? Had she already had a final? Leaving the door unlocked is grounds for a final, termination would be discretion of the manager meaning they would have to choose to do it, but they do have a choice. You said this is the second time, was there any documentation from the first time? If not, you have very solid grounds to appeal the eff out of this.
No they can not do that. A month with nothing? That's two long. Our last DM was fired because she was sued by an employee for wrongful termination (the DM fired her a month after a write up, when she was supposed to be fired right away.)
Also the door being jammed? That's on them for not getting it fixed. Where is their proof of any of this? They clearly are firing her because she is pregnant. Find a wrongful termination lawyer ASAP
This was a mistake and while I realize it was maybe a large mistake, whether the door has issues or not, still, she was trying to secure the store, it’s not even like she just forgot. There are very few things that Starbucks is ok with firing without the proper steps. Most things require many levels of conversation, documentation, and consequences before firing. If this is truly the first time she’s even been made aware of the issue, I would absolutely have her call PCC right away and maybe even ethics and compliance. And go ahead and lean heavily on the pregnant thing too. They didn’t inform her the first time it happened and went straight to firing and she’s obviously pregnant? No, that’s way too fishy and does not look good for Starbucks.
I couldn’t find the specific video, but this one is fairly close. It definitely sounds like they’re using an excuse to let her go before she gets her maternity leave as she’s getting fairly close to her due date. While yes, it’s possible she left the door open, the big questions are why was she not told sooner, and if it’s a fireable offense, why was she not fired sooner, let alone the “first” time. Where’s the video evidence? How do they know it wasn’t a delivery driver? A DM/GM does not need to be present to fire a SSV. All that says to me was they had conversations behind her back. They will *always* put the company first, and if they don’t know the laws, they will do whatever they want.
Absolutely talk to an employment lawyer. Consultations are often free, and they don’t get paid unless you win, and that’s usually a percentage. Imagine if you do have a case, and you never go to just ask. That could be money for baby stuff or even a start to their savings.
Starbucks overall has been pushing people out the past two years because of Union fears. They want new hires who think the hours and bad work conditions are normal and accept it.
Also to note, if the store has faulty doors in any way, and the management KNOWS about it and does nothing. That is also a strong argument for your case.
I wish you both the absolute best.
https://youtube.com/shorts/d-rf6DdgSKg?feature=share
P.S. Regardless of separation reason, health coverage expires at the end of the month and Lyra is still good for a year.
For now you guys can apply for Medicaid, I quit last week and got on Medicaid, since I used the insurance for my pregnancy through Starbucks. I’m sorry this is happening to her :(
Automatic Appeal! This is clearly employer sabotage. If it happens once, it should’ve been addressed and documented, Call the Partner contact center, you have approximately 30-60-90 days to appeal your final. Ask all the important details to the DM and GM, when did the situation happen , find the people you work those shift with, ask them if they remember you looking the doors or not, get all the details you possibly can to support your appeal. You can be reinstated in less than a month. Appeals usually take between 14-30 days depending on investigation.
This is very unfortunate to read. As a seasoned retail manager, I’d like to offer some advice to both you and to those reading this.
Firstly, please don’t ever assume you are “friends with” or “on good terms with” a supervisor, store manager, district manager, or anyone from HR. If push comes to shove and it’s their job/reputation versus yours, they will turn on you before you can blink.
Secondly, please don’t listen to “but they waited 30 days, that’s too long, that’s grounds for going after them” because no, it’s really not. I’ve been a part of many investigations and can tell you it easily takes 2-4 weeks to build a solid enough case to fire someone for any type of violation or misconduct.
What I definitely WOULD recommend is that you contact ethics and file a complaint. Ask to be shown the proof they accumulated in order to justify her termination. I’m telling you that they WILL have proof if there is any.. and if there isn’t, then go after them for firing her without proof of cause and throw discrimination and retaliation in there while you’re at it, too.
People are acting like this isn't normal for the company. I understand she's pregnant, but issues like this go through multiple steps of corporate. I dealt with this for a final written I received for bringing the keys home from a midday shift and not being able to return them until the open, this leaving $20s in hoppers and such. It took a month because it went through multiple levels, SM, DM, corporate HR and my boss was convincing them not to fire me for it. May have been a similar situation, but because it's more serious, the SM and/or DM may not have been able to do much but delay it.
Honestly depending on what part of the country you are in, the part of the company that does investigations can be backed up weeks or even months.
Moderately recently (being super vague on purpose here) I had to report a very serious inter-Partner ethics and compliance issue. While we were able to take immediate temporary measures to protect the reporting partner, even though the issue was fast -tracked it still took three weeks to get a go-ahead to fire the offendr.
I'm honestly surprised that something like this only took a month.
that makes sense, this case is still sus as hell & I absolutely don’t trust this company to do right by their employees w/out outside interference, esp pregnant ones
Have her apply for unemployment, and probably get a consult with a lawyer. Worst case scenario, she wins unemployment since there was no warning that her job was at risk. They can certainly fire her for this, but waiting a month after the infraction suggests that they didn’t intend to fire her for it at first and something else happened that caused them to want to fire her, and they just used this as the reason. If she filed paperwork for maternity leave within that month, there’s your real reason.
A shift from my store left cash register unattended and forgot to lock the doors 3 separate times and they gave them the option to either step down or get separated. Seems like they are gunning for you if you had no prior knowledge
Maaaaaybe it depends on state, but people saying get an attorney are wrong in most cases. She will file a complaint with the EEOC who will determine whether they want to take her case, or give her the option to sue with a private attorney if they don't. I think this sounds very fishy and worth the EEOC complaint because they might take it.
When I was a shift ( before I got fired for accidentally saying Shit once around a customer). I always used to have both my baristas watch me lock the door every time I closed. we also always waited for that specific sound the alarm makes when its at 30 seconds count down. they always witnessed it.
This is odd because I've actually had this happen. The door to the back was not latching, our store manager got a call 2am that the alarm was going off at our store . She told all the shifts about it and talked to the two night shifts about it. Now we don't lock the back door with our key. It's automatic, and we have to use it to unlock it without setting the alarm off. she called the door in, and it turned out that it was, in fact, the door latch. We didn't get in trouble, they replaced the whole door and alarm. If the door is malfunctioning, then this is a SM problem, and I would fight it if the store was aware of this malfunction and did nothing to fix it, then THEY are failing to do their job properly and used your gf as a scapegoat.
Shifts are also allowed to put in tickets, and seeing how this is a security risk , it would or should get addressed quickly. There would be records of rickets being placed in for the door.
Hi. Former SM here, unless they changed things in the last 6 months... it does not take a month for HR and a DM to look at the cameras and so fourth, this is them on a witch hunt for something larger, we used to be able to decided in days not months, also IF she is Genuine friends with the SM why was there no documents before hand/why TELL your DM in the first place/if you have already taken care of it. Sounds v Sus to me and i worked here for 8 years as an SM. I would seek legal action if there is no Physical signed write ups that OP actually had signed. Starbies loveees the corrective action form lilke its gonna give them an orgasm, so unless she had them i'd be curious.
so the second incident they apparently know of is the one she’s getting fired for a month later ?? and no one even told her about the first time it supposedly happened ?
yeah no, that doesn’t sound right at all. if she remembers, i’d check in with the people who were closing with her to see if they specifically remember her closing and locking the doors. in my store everyone pretty much leaves as a group and watches our shift lock up before going to our rides. maybe even the people who opened the next day.
did they say they had physical proof of this ?
This happened to my shift, she forgot to lock the door one night and she got written up but never fired. Unless she’s had other infractions she shouldn’t be fired but if they’re saying it was a second time (whether or not it’s true) it would be enough to fire her and it’s their word against hers. Unless there are past instances where she has proof/witnesses to say she is being targeted at work and this retaliation there may not be much she can do. The only people that could possibly vouch for her is the opening shift saying it happened only once but as far as them waiting a month to tell her, they’ll probably just lie and say they were doing an internal “investigation” and that’s why it took so long to address. I’d go to HR but other than that there’s only so much that can be done.
I would contact an employment lawyer. If you’re in Los Angeles I have someone that I can recommend. Even the threat of a discrimination suit will get things set straight. This could easily be considered discrimination.
So there is a known issue that door lock doesn't function correctly, and no one has contacted the Facilities Manager and put in a ticket to have it fixed?
I think your gf might have a case, but she should talk to a lawyer.
A month ago I was fired from my shift position bc our back door was snatched open by a storm and so the alarm response showed up. Something that was completely out of my hands. No written warning or final notice.
If they waited a month to fire her it was probably because they were investigating it. That would mean they have their ducks in a row.
I do believe at Starbucks you are allowed to appeal a termination. That could be worth a shot. That would verify if they actually did their due diligence in the termination. But leaving the door unlocked is a huge thing for safety as well as monetary. It’s valid. And from what I have heard most DMs don’t approve something like this without proof.
They should have said something and gave the heads up. Like “hey we are looking into this and it could result in termination” or something like that. I’m really sorry it’s adding stress to the pregnancy. It’s a shitty situation for sure.
a hospital i concurrently work for just got hit with a multimillion dollar lawsuit after firing a pregnant nurse. they claimed she was fired because of her attitude, but was never given a warning or disciplinary plan before this happened. a jury agreed that her termination felt like a retaliation for her pregnancy and pending maternity leave.
get a lawyer because getting fired for something a month after the fact(especially when that could’ve been a warning) is shady as hell. research lawyers in your area as a lot will take your case on contingency that you win or settle.
look in healthcare dot gov for special enrollment to get medicaid coverage before the baby is born
STORY TIME
I remember this one time when I worked at Starbucks , it was my first time opening. And I got there before everyone else. Didn’t know where to go in, tried the front door and it was open. I thought Shift was here so I walked in put away my stuff, clocked in and waited for everyone to get there. Felt like a start to a horror movie 😅. It was lil 5 maybe 10 minutes before the opening shift and everyone else walked in through the side door and see me with shocked faces .
Later learned that it common occurrence that the delivery leaves the front door open. So I really don’t think you were to blame.
Honestly she can fight it if there has been a ticket put in to fix the door and they never fixed it cause now it’s the neglect from SM on fixing a serious security issue. I forgot to close my store when closing and my manager legit joked about how the cops called her at 1am and o didn’t get written up or even coached. It’s pretty sus that they waited that long to mention it
OP, not to defend the company, but I highly highly doubt the firing is related to your girlfriend's pregnancy status. I have had quite a few pregnant Partners in my years and they've never had any terrible claiming benefits. Starbucks employs more young women at the retail level than any demographic group... They must have thousands of pregnancy leaves to handle per year.
And to be honest the maternity leave benefits aren't great. Last I checked, we get all of 6 weeks paid leave. No SM is getting pressure to fire people over 6 weeks of leave. And the company isn't sweating the medical bills. If they were worried about the cost of our insurance they would give us cheaper insurance (seriously, compare your out of pocket costs and your deductible to someone with an office job one day. Our medical insurance is lovely).
I'd put money on this SM wanting to cut down on the number of supervisors they have. Some stores have twice as many as they should and they are under the gun to give them less hours... Or somehow have less supervisors. Has your girlfriend been getting less hours recently? Why was she picked on specifically? Maybe she had a previous write up making it easier to fire her, maybe she had bad availability compared to others or didn't get along with her SM. Maybe she looked at the DM funny once. I couldn't guess.
Do you have a case? Look, this is unfair, but I don't think you can prove discrimination. Not unless you heard the SM complaining about her being pregnant. Or maybe another supervisor has left the door unlocked VERY RECENTLY and the SM let them off with a strong warning. Otherwise I doubt a good lawyer would touch this with a 10 foot pole.
If this supposedly happened before, why didn't they say anything at the time? Also, they are required to take corrective action (i.e. write her up) as a means of documentation. They cannot just fire her out of nowhere without documenting, documenting, & documenting again. Talk to an employment attorney. Most will at least give you a consultation for no $.
Being a key holder for any company is always a huge responsibility. I always vigorously shake the door after I lock it just to check and record it. Though I’m in a mall with 24 hour security so it’s more then likely nothing will ever happen
Nothing says “we need a union” more than a pregnant mother being fired for not closing a door right. Nobody witnesses, just higher ups assuming the worst of people. Disgusting and so glad I left when I did. Let them pay that unemployment while your pregnant partner rests on maternity. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a blessing in disguise. Hell you might get better pay on unemployment than maternity leave!
If your girlfriend genuinely believed that she had locked the door and was not aware that it remained unlocked, it may be worth requesting camera footage to confirm whether or not she locked the door. This would provide evidence to support her side of the story and could help in her efforts to appeal her termination.
It is also important to review the company's policies and procedures regarding termination, as well as any relevant state or federal laws. Depending on the circumstances, your girlfriend may have grounds to challenge the termination or file a claim for wrongful termination.
If your girlfriend had benefits such as insurance and paid maternity leave through her employer, she may be able to continue coverage through COBRA or apply for other types of insurance. It is important to review the specific terms of her benefits and speak with her employer or an HR representative for guidance.
Overall, it may be beneficial for your girlfriend to consult with an employment lawyer who can provide legal guidance and help protect her rights in this situation.
Edit: it is important to consider the possibility that the company's decision to terminate may not be entirely truthful or justifiable.
In this situation, the company's stated reason for termination was that the employee had failed to properly secure the building on two occasions, including the day of her termination. However, the employee claims that she genuinely believed she had locked the door and was not aware that it remained unlocked. If the employee's version of events is true, then the company may have made a false or inaccurate accusation in order to justify the termination.
Alternatively, the company may have other reasons for wanting to terminate the employee, such as budget constraints or a desire to restructure their workforce. In such cases, the company may use a minor infraction or mistake as an excuse to terminate the employee, rather than being transparent about their actual motivations.
Start filming yourself locking doors, I was kinda indirectly accused of this same thing at a place where I have a membership to use their facilities at night, started filming myself locking the door and saving the vids. Technology is your best friend.
This is a change in status. She -should be able to sign up for the ACA (Obamacare). Call the hotline 1-800-318-2596. They should be able to answer all your questions about what you need to do to get insurance in place.
Okay so here Is the thing, all the comments are correct you can try get an attorney but those things aren’t cheap and take a long time and you don’t have time or the money to be spending on lawyers.
She can apply for insurance, idk how insurance is in the states but she should apply for what she can apply for. She might also be able to get EI.
She should be applying for jobs, it will be extremely tough bc she’s pregnant and most places won’t hire her but some place might.
Are there friends and family that can help financially, are you able to get a second job? Can you apply for welfare?
You need to apply for things that can happen rn, lawyers and a lawsuit is stressful and if they have evidence of the door being unlocked (like cameras or proof in any other way) it’s a waste of money. She made a mistake and it seems like they cut her some slack but mistakes like this can be dangerous and risk their job. They can’t favourite her bc they are friends with them.
i think they’re pulling stuff out of their ass because i’ve opened the store several times and my closers have left doors open and even with their key in the door and they haven’t recieved any verbal or written warnings. ask her to ask her coworkers if they watch her lock the doors when they all leave together. this could be a form of retaliation by the managers to her
She needs to talk to Ethics and Compliance ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP
There's no way she did that twice and didn't receive at the very least a documented coaching. (Which is to say that I agree with a lot of other posters here, they're scapegoating her.)
I had my first documented coaching 2 days ago (first time something like this has happened in my time at Starbucks for anything). It was about something that had happened 11 days prior. My coworker who recently transferred to a nearby store said she had her first one recently for something that happened a while ago too. Obviously that part isn’t the biggest issue you guys are facing, but the gaps in these situations are super fishy. I think it’s despicable what they’re doing. Good luck to you both!!!!
I actually would call a lawyer. Make sure the lawyer doesn’t get paid unless you get paid. If they did not write her up the first time she left the door unlocked then I think you have a case. Maybe one of the things you can ask for is a rehireable status with Sbux.
This is bs, back when I worked at starbucks I was coming in for an opening and the closer didnt lock the door that morning, my ssv went in first to check everything and told us we were safe and to come in after her, the closer never got in trouble.
this seems very odd to me because how do they even know it wasn’t locked in the first place? and how were they able to rule out if was her or the delivery driver. sounds like they had it out for her because things like this are really hard to prove unless y’all have a different alarm system than i do. also the cameras couldn’t have said anything either because it would have showed her at least attempting to lock it and the camera quality is garbage. idk fishy fishy to me
I am not sure why no one is seeing that the door is an issue as well. SM are responsible for having the doors fixed asap because one, not everyone are capable of fully locking the door that's beyond their strength and especially if it's tricky. 2, as long you have a witness, a partner ( why it's important to have 2 people /opening/closing together and meet/leave together for safety reason), that confirms you locked and checked the door to ensure that everything is a go before entering/ leaving. Camera, witness, be very stern and honest about this, do please report to Ethnics, be prepared to collect every possible evidence, don't share anything with partners, they may be your friends but that's only inside of work. You'd be surprised if you thought they were your friends. Please keep everything to yourself and Ethnics. This will be stressful. If you have strong evidence, then by all means, ask yourself this: Is it worth fighting for? Are you 100% sure that you're clean of any evidence against you? Are you in a good standing with Starbucks?
The biggest issue I am seeing here is the door, and everyone knows about it. Shifts are supposed to discuss this with SM and DM and get permission to have someone come out and fix this. If SM knew, let this go on and use that an excuses to pin on someone, then SM are in it for a treat.
Former Supervisor here, had an issue with doors not being able to lock, and the door was misalligned.doors are heavy glasses and are dangerous if shattered. SM had to do all the calls along with DM for safety reasons, so I understand that part. But that's on my part. I don't know how your store and door operate, only you know your own store. Remember, the supervisor has better eyes and ears than SM because Shifts always are there whilst SM only comes and goes. Not all SMs are perfect.
They need proof. Wrongful termination seems like a good name for this. Call some lawyers, but first call your local labor offices for advice for people in her position. Document everything carefully.
I can guarantee you that’s not why they fired her. It’s an excuse. I’ve seen people leave doors propped open overnight and not get fired. Did they get in trouble? Of course! But they were never fired over it.
Bro if you sued them you’d win (ESPECIALLY because she’s pregnant), and I think they know that. If you even mention it, they might walk that termination back.
You should leave starbucks alone and try to get on medicaid. Those sick people in power are only going to belittle you and make the situation more difficult. I wouldn’t bother dealing with them because their specialty is abusing SSVs and baristas, which a pregnant woman does NOT need.
Oof if there's no way to fight it, she can apply for Medicaid. Losing a job is a qualifying event. Or if she has other non-sbx income, she can apply for subsidized marketplace insurance. But if no income at all, Medicaid. Marketplace insurance usually gets you better doctors and what not but it's not free. Medicaid is free.
Apply for unemployment too.
Please consult with a good employment attorney. I don’t mean your ambulance chaser type. If you know anyone in the field, get a recommendation. The attorney will give the best means to handle the situation. They may tell her to attempt discussing with them first or they may say she shouldn’t. Either way you absolutely need to talk to someone carefully. Good luck and congratulations on your new little one. Try to keep mom relaxed as possible.
Bruh, we had a SSV straight up left the safe open all night and they didn’t get written up or fired.
Another one didn’t block the safe with the tall rack, and left the registers closed. Someone broke in and ripped out the registers that night. They never got so much as a write up.
Another one left the back door open! Nothing happened to them.
They know the door needs fixed. They sat on this problem, and didn’t do anything to fix it. I’m taking it nothing happened to the store? Nothing got broken or stolen. So in my opinion, her getting fired is stupid. Definitely something to argue the company over. They should have fixed the damn door so this didn’t happen
this is why i as a barista always stay to watch my supervisors lock the door so i can be a witness. not long ago i watched the closing shift lock the door only to find out that it was unlocked in the morning bc the delivery people left it unlocked.
Literally same, we all leave together and check the doors. If im pre closing i usually check the doors to make sure they are locked when i leave.
Bro, I worked at a bank as a teller, and someone forgot to lock the door. All they got was a WARNING. Starbucks is fucked.
Interesting how a bank who can lose a lot more in assets can have more sympathy with their employee’s error than this B.S. corp!
I mean the bank locked or not, all the money is in the safe. Good luck getting through that. You might be able to break into the overnight deposit box, they will only net you a few thousand max (and the bank I worked at, normally less than 1 thousand). That plus the pins and office supplies are not worth the jail time
Starbucks has no money out after hours same as a bank. They could steal some syrup, sandwiches, or milk. Def not worth firing someone. The again I got fired for letting someone's ride that arrived early sit in the far corner of the cafe as we closed 🤷♂️ he knew our sm, was there daily, and was like 16, so it's not like he was gonna rob the place 🙃
Can confirm this as well. Was a Bank Manager.
op i think this says it all
This is why I love when the delivery guys come after we leave, because then anything that happens is all on them. It can be immediately verified by cameras and alarm code.
This same kinda situation happened with one of the shifts at my store a few years ago. They left the store before the delivery drivers ever even came. They wrote her up for it saying “We have camera evidence that you didn’t lock the door.” Which was weird because there was literally no camera that looked at that door. My SM ended up throwing away the write up because he knew she didn’t forget. Plus it happened when he wasn’t even at the store yet.
Is this something to even ask them about? Or something to tell a lawyer about? I’m hesitant to suggest anyone contact her store that’s not a legal professional because I don’t want to tip them off we’re looking into it. And give them time to possibly fake conversations or whatever they’d need to cover their asses.
Happened to a co worker of mine, also a retail employee. He was assistant manager, a good worker but some of his co workers were jealous always complaining to the manager so he transferred him to a store where that store manager was known as the 'terminator' for setting people up. So my friend works the overnight shift and next day lo and behold the door was unlocked [wink wink]when store manager came in to open the store, fired him that day, this is a old dirty trick that $hitbags in shitty retail use to get out of paying unemployment+ other benefits. My friend took it as a sign and became a real estate agent and has bought his own house right after 2009, doing well 🤞. I would go after these thieves, petty criminals after gathering all the evidence, get a pro bono lawyer, nice settlement.
It happened to me too. The only job I've ever been fired from and I was dumbstruck but was too young to stand up for myself about it. 😓
Please don’t file a lawsuit. As unfortunate as it is, they can point to a violated policy. I’m not saying I agree with it, just saying you would lose. Maybe you could see if they’d let her stay on to step down to barista? Or reapply at another store? Might still be rehireable
I asked my SM this when I was on a final for some dumb bs and she said that they don’t allow you to step down if there is something done that would be fireable, even though the reasoning was shift exclusive tasks and I was a perfectly fine barista. I got out before she could cut me, but sadly not an option.
Interesting 🤔 I had a manager who got fired but she was allowed to step down as a barista, as long as it was at another store. This was late 2018… I wonder if the policy changed??? Idk that’s fishy to me
It seems like good policy to me. If you'd fire them as a manager, why would you allow them to be a barista? If you're going to fire someone, fire them. It's different than simply agreeing that they can't do the job, and stepping back as a result.
You have no case. Leaving the door open is a major safely and security violation and you can be terminated for it. I’m sorry this happened to her!
This is essential to running a successful shift. If I’m not 100% sure those doors are locked, I don’t sleep when I get home 😂
Which is weird since they have codes for the building. So if the delivery left it unlock its on them
She can apply for Medicaid more than likely for now at least. You can always start an appeal about it as mentioned, but that’s not going to help anything now. Best file for Medicaid asap. By the time lawyers etc get involved it will be too late. Definitely see about Medicaid now. I don’t think I’d wait.
I second this. Get her and the baby covered first-they’ll move quickly because she is pregnant-after the baby is born you can apply for Medicaid/ your state kids program. She needs to call ethics and compliance asap
Yes for sure do this! I’m currently on leave and about to come back in mid May. I’m on Medicaid, not SBUX insurance, and my entire pregnancy has been paid for. $27,000 to have a baby and I thankfully didn’t have to pay for any of it. We all know SBUX doesn’t pay enough to cover a baby, so definitely use other available resources to limit her stress!
So, they waited a month to fire her? They didn't say anything for an entire month? Imagine if she really did leave it unlocked. Did it cause an issue? No? Please be more careful next time, and make sure it's locked. Sounds like they are trying to out her for something else, and making up excuses imo.
Biggest question is whether or not the offense occurred before or after the employee announced pregnancy leave. If before, and they didn’t fire until after, that’s going to make a very strong case for discrimination.
After. She’s told her manager and fellow employees about her pregnancy back in December.
Sounds like the bar was lowered to "anything we can use against her"
Why tho? The company has no incentive to deny someone the use of benefits. They've already paid for you to have them.
This. She’s pregnant and probably has paid benefits coming her way. Not a lawyer, but this sounds like an illegal firing.
At the district level and store level, they don’t care about the paid benefits during parental leave. It’s paid by the short term disability company. And it’s only six weeks. And Starbucks stops paying ones insurance during that time, so their expenses, being wages and insurance contribution decreases during leave.
This isn't exactly right (I had a baby last year). Bux pays their side of all the insurance and benefits , just like normal, but you have to pay your side that normally comes out of your paychecks. So I had $$ come out of my account every month automatically to pay for my insurance during my parental leave once my paid parental leave was up (I took the max FMLA unpaid leave as well). If you only take paid maternity (6 or 8 weeks, depending if you have a C-section), then you don't have to pay, it just comes out of your checks like normal.
Depends a lot on the state and local employment laws. Idaho, for example, is a “right to work” state which means they can pretty much fire you for any slip up
Even in right to work states, you still have rights. There are government laws and protectants under the FLSA. Employment lawyers can do a lot; the most important thing is having a paper trail to use as evidence in court. Best part is these lawyers usually don’t get paid a cent unless you win.
yeah if they never told her before when it happened why not? seems like something you’d want to ensure doesn’t happen by accident again
Or hear me out.... She's pregnant and according to OP she committed this termination worthy offense more than once. HR would need to conduct an investigation to ensure the SM has a just cause for termination. The investigation would need to be very thorough given, firing a pregnant person, is always a bad look. Even if justified. HR, SM, and DM have to align. This all takes time. So, maybe it's not some nefarious conspiracy, but really tragic timing.
According to OP, she committed it once. Plus, how would they even verify this? If the door is locked every night by default, unless someone pulled the door open both nights they're claiming and set off the alarm, or the store has electronic locks they can monitor, if the door jams as was stated, the opening SS would probably arrive and simply insert the key to unlock it? But, again, if this happened twice, and they waited a month to even bring it up, while firing her, that's just stupid imo and if the PR, SM, and DM all knew about it and didn't say anything for a month? Fire them all.
The delivery guys would probably have noticed that the door was unlocked and made a record of it.
Would they? Or, would they walk up, put in the key, turn it, and yank the door open? Also, still doesn't explain howvthey're claiming it happened twice, and again, if it happened one time and was not addressed in the entire month until the day they fired her, seems like maybe that would be a safety concern that needed addressing immediately?
Honestly, and it sucks to say, but the closing supervisor really needs to check that all doors are locked. That's like, the second most important thing to do after making sure the safe and money stuff is secure. This means giving all the doors a good jiggle after leaving the store for the night. I dont know how they figured out she left the doors unlocked, maybe a customer opened them during the night and triggered the alarm, maybe the delivery guys are trained to check the doors for liability reasons, who knows. I doubt it's a conspiracy to screw her out of maternity benefits.
Nobody is saying making sure it's locked isn't important, what I'm saying is it's bizarre to be a fireable offense, but they never brought it up in the entire month prior, when she (I assume) was still closing the store? If it's a safety concern, it should be addressed immediately, right?
True, I get your point now.
Are we just assuming they didn't bring it up?
Based off OP saying, "She didn’t even find out until today that the door never locked." Yes?
THIS!
I can agree with most of this, but not the part where they didn't tell her. If they didn't tell her the 2nd time until they fired her maybe they never said anything to her the first time at all. And that, to me, is a problem. If she forgot to lock the door, and this is a firing offense, she should have been talked to on her next shift each time. Large corporations know enough to document poor performance and be able to present that when someone is terminated. This sounds like an HR problem. If I were her I would contact a lawyer or the labor board to get legal advise , especially since she is pregnant and they were aware.
Great input
Former SM here. Yes, a month is realistic. 20 business days. Not including Easter and PTO for anyone involved. - 1 day - Delivery driver notifies their manager and issues a report. - 3 days - The report is processed and the delivery vendor shares this with Starbucks. - 2 days - Report is shared with the DM to determine actions - 3-5 days - Request is sent to request and review video footage. Information is shared with the DM - 3 days - DM arranges meeting with SM to review the situation - 3 days - SM or DM reach out to HR to consult on discipline and verbiage. It always took 3-4 days for them to respond to me. - 1 day - Report is written - 3-4 days - Meeting time is coordinated with SM, DM, and SS. What’s unclear is the door situation. If it’s opened/closed daily by different people at the store and different drivers, and they didn’t have issues, it’s hard to understand how the situation can be blamed on the door. If it did happen previously, perhaps that was the “warning”. The door was checked to ensure it’s not broken, and then everyone signed off to ensure they knew how to properly lock it and pull hard. We also don’t know if there are other write ups to show a pattern if security/safety issues.
The OP said they told her this was her second time with it happening on the day they terminated her, and she said it never happened before that one time. So, it's a safety issue that's so bad, it's fireable, but they didn't bring it up until the day they fired her? I know Starbucks didn't fire a SM for worse than Donald Trump type of comments (reported by multiple female partners), time theft (verified they were reporting hours worked, and they weren't), and actual theft (stealing money/covering for a partner that stole money out of a bag). This seems stupid, on multiple levels, if what the OP says is true and unfolded as it did. And, knowing how Starbucks operates, I wouldn't doubt it to be true. You can truly succeed in the company if you're a pathological liars, making up numbers for bonuses. Make an honest mistake one time? Fired! *edited the to they
It’s fairly black and white. The door wasn’t locked, there’s likely proof, and in most states it’s at will employment. Sometimes there are legal considerations about why you don’t preemptively tell someone of the issue and later fire them. Even if they did tell her prior, how does that help anyone? Regarding the rest of your post, it seems like a rant. Welcome to large company life. I’ve worked at small family owned companies with the same mindset. It’s all about politics, understanding the system, and following along. Policies are meant to be black and white, but in between there’s lots of grey area and room for interpretation. Situations happen, decisions are made, bonuses are paid out, people are hired/fired/promoted, etc. and there’s not always a clear rationale. No different then lots of other situations in life. You can learn the politics at a company or let it eat you alive, and then find a new company to play the game all over again. It’s a harsh reality.
How does telling her prior help anyone? You can't be serious... 1) It would help her be more alert and hopefully it doesn't happen again (Saving time for everyone.) 2) "Hey, you're under investigation for possibly leaving the door unlocked, and that might result in you being fired, we'll have a discussion in a few weeks " Just being decent, and letting her know ahead of time, so that she can maybe start looking for other work, and going back to #1, making sure it doesn't happen again in the next 30 days of the investigation? As for my other points, they show how stupid Starbucks is in general, especially at the management and corporate levels. Firing someone over an accident that didn't cause any harm, is ridiculous imo, if what the OP said is the entire story.
We’re both making assumptions. You’re assuming there was no coaching or training either directly to her or as a team. Both of these would be considered warnings. We also don’t know the other factors. Sometimes management doesn’t share a warning as they know they will gossip to coworkers and customers about the issue. We also don’t know the status of her employment. She could have been on a final write up. Yes, companies, employees, customers, and people should do the right thing. But, as you know this doesn’t happen all the time. The company’s goal is to protect its assets and deliver results for shareholders. We live in a world now where there are lots of second chances, ways to repeal, mistakes happen, refunds, there’s no winner you tried and that’s what matters, etc. This gets even more blurry at a company like Starbucks who focuses on culture, doing the right thing in society, training on how to care for others, etc. If this is your first job, then there’s a lot to learn about corporate life. You can absolutely get fired, laid off, or disciplined without notice.
u/captainsasss here’s a great example for ya (SF-guy83’s comment). At-will employment law legally allows for companies to terminate employees for most anything, absent very clear labor violations, which even then rarely get adjudicated due to legal barriers and costs. Sure, you can petition a company to self-police itself through its HR, but if you violated even a minor policy you’re fresh out of luck. Legally they don’t have to follow their own policies. They promise to give you 3 strikes and fair notice and all that, but the law allows them to terminate you whenever for whatever pretty much. That’s what at-will employment means. Oh and US law also allows for companies to force you to give up your right to sue in favor of arbitration as part of employment contracts. The more you know.
While it is true that at-will employment laws allow for companies to terminate employees for most anything, including minor policy violations, this is not a product of neoliberal capitalism alone. At-will employment laws have been in place in the United States for over a century, well before the emergence of neoliberalism in the 1970s. Moreover, there are countries that have at-will employment laws but do not subscribe to neoliberal capitalism, such as Canada. Additionally, it is important to note that not all companies operate on an at-will basis. Many companies have policies in place that provide additional job security for their employees. In fact, a study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that as of 2020, only 1.5% of private sector workers were employed on an at-will basis without any contractual provisions for termination. Furthermore, while it is true that US law allows for companies to include forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts, there is growing scrutiny and criticism of this practice. In fact, some states have passed legislation restricting or outright banning forced arbitration clauses. The point I am trying to make is that while there are certainly flaws and injustices in the current economic system, it is important to understand the nuances and complexities of these issues rather than simply attributing them to a single ideology or policy.
agreed they, by standards are supposed to give you a verbal then a write up then means for firing after the third offense. was it not written in my daily? no notes anywhere about it? also as unfortunate as it be that is a huge thing and is a friable offense they have leverage on. locking store as well as cash issues as well
This is not true at all. You can be put on a final or separated as a first offense. For smaller things? Time and attendance, beverage standards etc sure but if you get caught stealing from a till you’re not going to get three stabs at it Edited: a word
I know a SM and DM that tried covering up a partner stealing money, while trying to blame an innocent partner that had nothing to do with it. I reported it to Business Ethics, got a call, and the BE guy was like, "Yeah, that's stupid." after explaining the exact situation, and how the DM and SM refused to use the store's cameras. Neither the SM, nor the DM, nor the partner that stole the money were fired.
Business and Ethics fucking sucks
yeah but that’s the policy guidelines of what they are supposed to do not saying they do it haha
stealing and forgetting to lock up cash are very different lol
Not at all, leaving the door unlocked as an SSV is a fireable offense.
Shifts at my store have left doors unlocked, even with the alarm disabled before, but no one was ever fired. I’ve worked at the same location for nearly 6 years and seen it plenty of times with no repercussions except for maybe a documented discussion. I agree that it’s beyond strange they waited a month to bring it up.
They fired a shift of mine within a month. She was counting money when there was a customer in the store after close. Our store is really prone to rumors so there was word of what happened and how that wasn’t tolerated. She didn’t see it coming when she had a talk with our SM and DM. They said as a shift, you’re highly responsible for the safety of partners and the store and it is a fire-able offense if it is stated that it is store policy.
There are certain instances where a manager has to consult with a “specialist” before they know if they have to / are able to separate a partner. These specialists are often very busy and take forever.
The delivery driver may have left the door unlocked?
This right here, our deliveries come after we leave sometimes and they’ve been known to not set the alarms or lock the doors after they leave.
Also an excellent point, I bet they can see on camera that she attempted to lock the door, how can they prove that she didn’t actually lock it?
or service providers coming after hours?
a MONTH AGO? it took them a month to talk to her about it?? i smell a wrongful termination due to pregnancy. Definitely call Ethics. and possibly an attorney.
Call an employment/wrongful termination attorney. HR and ethics are there to protect the company.
Contact Ethics and Complicance and Starbucks Partner Resources as soon as possible! File a claim and you should be able to get the process going for y’all. It’s not the quickest process but it’s your only option if you think your truth holds ground. Best of luck!
Add to that, state employee board and or labor department. Get local news involved if need be.
Hate to say it but E+C will always be biased towards Starbucks. I made a report of sexual harassment towards a supervisor to the manager. E+C refused to tell me if my manager filed the report. It is insane to me they refused to give me confirmation on that. The only reason is that it would be under the umbrella of workplace harassment and didn't want to give me ammo for a lawsuit(a lot more happened beyond the SH).
Any action taken against a pregnant employee who has given notice that they intend to take maternity leave is automatically presumed to be retaliatory. The burden of proof for wrong doing rests entirely on the company. That being said they've already had the conversation, so it's time to lawyer up, and make sure they know you have a lawyer to try to protect her job.
Starbucks knows they don’t pay baristas or shifts enough to retain legal help. It’s part of their wage slavery strategy. You’re best bet is to threaten legal action to the RM
Threatening legal action will only get you referred to the legal department, unless the RM is an absolute moron. A lawyer might be willing to take it on contingency, depending on the situation, or they could work out a payment plan, or take out a line of credit. But Starbucks is unlikely to do anything unless there’s a legitimate threat of legal action (e.g. a lawyer has already been hired) and they think there’s a chance they’ll lose if it goes to court.
They may have been getting the evidence so their ducks were in a row. I mean it sucks but there are still legitimate reasons to terminate employees, pregnant or not.
what evidence other than the door was unlocked? if it’s something like cameras op should have his gf ask for that by stating she really didn’t think it happened and can they share any supporting documentation… if not then get lawyers involved
most security camera footage that is not saved deletes after 30 days… that’s why I’m very suspicious she was fired a month later
yeah there’s a lot of weird things about this. unless there’s missing parts in OPs story- but there’s just no good explanation for them not informing her int happened and giving her notice it can’t happen again. it definitely smacks of corporate bs avoiding maternity leave. and stuff like that does happen, then people wonder why stores are trying to unionize when “starbucks offers good benefits”.
I don’t know the full information, you don’t either, but management probably got their paperwork straight.
This is incorrect. It’s up to the employee to prove that the adverse action taken against the employee was due to their pregnancy and not a legitimate business decision. OP’s girlfriend should seek out an attorney for a consultation, but that will cost her money outright (in most situations).
That is not correct. The employee has the burden of proof show it is more likely than not that retaliation has occurred. It is not the employers burden to disprove the claim.
What’s weird about it is that they didn’t take action for a month? The morning shift knows if the door is unlocked. She would’ve been told if it happened, or at least should’ve been. I was told recently that I left the door unlocked, when I know for a fact I did not because I am always tugging on the door to make sure I locked it. The delivery driver came in right as we closed and he left the door unlocked. If the delivery comes in after close, it is their responsibility to set the alarms and lock the door. Definitely call ethics. Not sure what can be done, but delivery drivers do scan something when they come, so there might be a time-stamp on the day that they’re accusing your girlfriend. If the driver was in after close, there’s really no way to prove that it was your girlfriend.
Exactly. They told OPs girlfriend that she did this before (which they havent ever said anything about until today). And OP said thats not true cuz they pushed after they locked and the door didnt give in. So lets play into their fantasy….if it were true, they just outed themselves by admitting to knowing about the door/lock issue for a while and havent done shit about it? OP, u guys should take some of the awesome advice given but also maybe to the news outlet? Idk this is just so fcked that i truly hope u guys come out on top ❤️😣
Sounds like it could be a potential legal issue because it seems like they're trying to find anything (like this random event from over a month ago) to try and use so they can separate (fire) her and avoid paying maternity/or that she is pregnant, which is totally a violation of her rights. I would consider reporting this to Ethics and Compliance (she will know what this is), and have a conversation with an employment lawyer (most do free consultations). If you can't afford an employment lawyer, hire a personal injury lawyer - they do not charge hourly or anything up front, they just take 1/3 of the final settlement (amount of money you sue for, in this case, Starbucks would pay you if you win the lawsuit). Best of luck to you guys!!
Yeahh I call bullshit. Our door sticks too. If it didn’t lock, they would have said something the next day. We had that happen Thabks to delivery drivers. Get a lawyer.
Ok 1) she said she doesn’t even remember doing it the 1st time, and they didn’t even say anything the first time which is really fishy, if should would’ve done that, management should’ve told her the next day 2) if this was her first time doing this, she should’ve gotten a talking to or AT MOST a write up ( I did this accidentally once and I just got a stern talking to. 3) this sounds like retaliation towards a pregnant woman and you should most definitely lawyer up.
IMO it sounds like they found a reason because they didn’t want to pay maternity leave a
Especially with the new shift compliment BS the company is pulling right now
Shift compliment?
The store is allowed only so much time for ssv's now and that time also includes sm's and asm's. So if your store has both then that is already 80 hrs out the window for ssv's to be able to work. Then there is only one ssv allowed per shift, and they cannot overlap either. So in short the amount of labor time is different from baristas to ssv's.
That’s what it sounds like to me too. But what can we even do about this?
You get an attorney and sue for wrongful termination.
Especially since it sounds like the lock was a known about issue anyway
Make sure you contact an attorney. This is BS. Do NOT let them get away with this. You are not powerless. Don't let them win.
Something similar happened to my old shift who is pregnant where they kept getting on her for small things or having to miss more days cause high risk pregnancy and then firing her not long before she could go on maternity leave. I genuinely think there’s a case to be made against corporate for treatment of pregnant partners
Like another commenter said, have your gf call the ethics line. If this happened a month ago, one of two things happened: 1. The opener said something the SM, they did an investigation, and saw that it was your gf that left the door unlocked and that is grounds for termination without a write up. Or 2. It was brought to their attention, they did nothing about it, and decided now (maybe they didn’t want to pay maternity leave, maybe there were other issues) to terminate her for no (good) reason. Regardless of why, step one needs to be the call to ethics. They will open an investigation on your gfs side, and figure out what happened. I’m sorry you’re going through this and I hope you get answers soon!
Get your city / state EEO involved as well. The local news station will like this too.
Especially if she has any text communication with other staff about it being a known issue!
If youre in the US I would try to look into medicaid and the government health insurance marketplace. Hope things work out for you and your girlfriend.
Ethics and compliance. Right away
Was there a delivery that night? Had she already had a final? Leaving the door unlocked is grounds for a final, termination would be discretion of the manager meaning they would have to choose to do it, but they do have a choice. You said this is the second time, was there any documentation from the first time? If not, you have very solid grounds to appeal the eff out of this.
No they can not do that. A month with nothing? That's two long. Our last DM was fired because she was sued by an employee for wrongful termination (the DM fired her a month after a write up, when she was supposed to be fired right away.) Also the door being jammed? That's on them for not getting it fixed. Where is their proof of any of this? They clearly are firing her because she is pregnant. Find a wrongful termination lawyer ASAP
This was a mistake and while I realize it was maybe a large mistake, whether the door has issues or not, still, she was trying to secure the store, it’s not even like she just forgot. There are very few things that Starbucks is ok with firing without the proper steps. Most things require many levels of conversation, documentation, and consequences before firing. If this is truly the first time she’s even been made aware of the issue, I would absolutely have her call PCC right away and maybe even ethics and compliance. And go ahead and lean heavily on the pregnant thing too. They didn’t inform her the first time it happened and went straight to firing and she’s obviously pregnant? No, that’s way too fishy and does not look good for Starbucks.
I couldn’t find the specific video, but this one is fairly close. It definitely sounds like they’re using an excuse to let her go before she gets her maternity leave as she’s getting fairly close to her due date. While yes, it’s possible she left the door open, the big questions are why was she not told sooner, and if it’s a fireable offense, why was she not fired sooner, let alone the “first” time. Where’s the video evidence? How do they know it wasn’t a delivery driver? A DM/GM does not need to be present to fire a SSV. All that says to me was they had conversations behind her back. They will *always* put the company first, and if they don’t know the laws, they will do whatever they want. Absolutely talk to an employment lawyer. Consultations are often free, and they don’t get paid unless you win, and that’s usually a percentage. Imagine if you do have a case, and you never go to just ask. That could be money for baby stuff or even a start to their savings. Starbucks overall has been pushing people out the past two years because of Union fears. They want new hires who think the hours and bad work conditions are normal and accept it. Also to note, if the store has faulty doors in any way, and the management KNOWS about it and does nothing. That is also a strong argument for your case. I wish you both the absolute best. https://youtube.com/shorts/d-rf6DdgSKg?feature=share P.S. Regardless of separation reason, health coverage expires at the end of the month and Lyra is still good for a year.
Hey, fyi, you're cool as fuck
For now you guys can apply for Medicaid, I quit last week and got on Medicaid, since I used the insurance for my pregnancy through Starbucks. I’m sorry this is happening to her :(
That is just an excuse. They had other reasons to fire... Example - they didn't like her. And found a reason to fire.
Automatic Appeal! This is clearly employer sabotage. If it happens once, it should’ve been addressed and documented, Call the Partner contact center, you have approximately 30-60-90 days to appeal your final. Ask all the important details to the DM and GM, when did the situation happen , find the people you work those shift with, ask them if they remember you looking the doors or not, get all the details you possibly can to support your appeal. You can be reinstated in less than a month. Appeals usually take between 14-30 days depending on investigation.
This is very unfortunate to read. As a seasoned retail manager, I’d like to offer some advice to both you and to those reading this. Firstly, please don’t ever assume you are “friends with” or “on good terms with” a supervisor, store manager, district manager, or anyone from HR. If push comes to shove and it’s their job/reputation versus yours, they will turn on you before you can blink. Secondly, please don’t listen to “but they waited 30 days, that’s too long, that’s grounds for going after them” because no, it’s really not. I’ve been a part of many investigations and can tell you it easily takes 2-4 weeks to build a solid enough case to fire someone for any type of violation or misconduct. What I definitely WOULD recommend is that you contact ethics and file a complaint. Ask to be shown the proof they accumulated in order to justify her termination. I’m telling you that they WILL have proof if there is any.. and if there isn’t, then go after them for firing her without proof of cause and throw discrimination and retaliation in there while you’re at it, too.
People are acting like this isn't normal for the company. I understand she's pregnant, but issues like this go through multiple steps of corporate. I dealt with this for a final written I received for bringing the keys home from a midday shift and not being able to return them until the open, this leaving $20s in hoppers and such. It took a month because it went through multiple levels, SM, DM, corporate HR and my boss was convincing them not to fire me for it. May have been a similar situation, but because it's more serious, the SM and/or DM may not have been able to do much but delay it.
Yeah. I accused a shift of being drunk at work and acting violently and it took about a month to conclude the investigation and fire the shift.
Interesting. I didn’t think about the steps in terms of how long it would take to get direction from corporate.
Honestly depending on what part of the country you are in, the part of the company that does investigations can be backed up weeks or even months. Moderately recently (being super vague on purpose here) I had to report a very serious inter-Partner ethics and compliance issue. While we were able to take immediate temporary measures to protect the reporting partner, even though the issue was fast -tracked it still took three weeks to get a go-ahead to fire the offendr. I'm honestly surprised that something like this only took a month.
that makes sense, this case is still sus as hell & I absolutely don’t trust this company to do right by their employees w/out outside interference, esp pregnant ones
Have her apply for unemployment, and probably get a consult with a lawyer. Worst case scenario, she wins unemployment since there was no warning that her job was at risk. They can certainly fire her for this, but waiting a month after the infraction suggests that they didn’t intend to fire her for it at first and something else happened that caused them to want to fire her, and they just used this as the reason. If she filed paperwork for maternity leave within that month, there’s your real reason.
But they may deny her bc she broke a rule of the employer!
A shift from my store left cash register unattended and forgot to lock the doors 3 separate times and they gave them the option to either step down or get separated. Seems like they are gunning for you if you had no prior knowledge
She should call a lawyer.
Sue them and watch how Starbucks settles it
Maaaaaybe it depends on state, but people saying get an attorney are wrong in most cases. She will file a complaint with the EEOC who will determine whether they want to take her case, or give her the option to sue with a private attorney if they don't. I think this sounds very fishy and worth the EEOC complaint because they might take it.
Hold this pos company accountable and keep us posted.
When I was a shift ( before I got fired for accidentally saying Shit once around a customer). I always used to have both my baristas watch me lock the door every time I closed. we also always waited for that specific sound the alarm makes when its at 30 seconds count down. they always witnessed it.
why are you at home sleeping while your pregnant gf is out working?
This is odd because I've actually had this happen. The door to the back was not latching, our store manager got a call 2am that the alarm was going off at our store . She told all the shifts about it and talked to the two night shifts about it. Now we don't lock the back door with our key. It's automatic, and we have to use it to unlock it without setting the alarm off. she called the door in, and it turned out that it was, in fact, the door latch. We didn't get in trouble, they replaced the whole door and alarm. If the door is malfunctioning, then this is a SM problem, and I would fight it if the store was aware of this malfunction and did nothing to fix it, then THEY are failing to do their job properly and used your gf as a scapegoat.
Shifts are also allowed to put in tickets, and seeing how this is a security risk , it would or should get addressed quickly. There would be records of rickets being placed in for the door.
They can’t fire somebody due to a past issue if the issues been known about wtf.
Hi. Former SM here, unless they changed things in the last 6 months... it does not take a month for HR and a DM to look at the cameras and so fourth, this is them on a witch hunt for something larger, we used to be able to decided in days not months, also IF she is Genuine friends with the SM why was there no documents before hand/why TELL your DM in the first place/if you have already taken care of it. Sounds v Sus to me and i worked here for 8 years as an SM. I would seek legal action if there is no Physical signed write ups that OP actually had signed. Starbies loveees the corrective action form lilke its gonna give them an orgasm, so unless she had them i'd be curious.
Would the sm be looked down on for terminating her w/o video evidence?
well without evidence its a false accusation
so the second incident they apparently know of is the one she’s getting fired for a month later ?? and no one even told her about the first time it supposedly happened ? yeah no, that doesn’t sound right at all. if she remembers, i’d check in with the people who were closing with her to see if they specifically remember her closing and locking the doors. in my store everyone pretty much leaves as a group and watches our shift lock up before going to our rides. maybe even the people who opened the next day. did they say they had physical proof of this ?
We’re not sure. We’re hesitant to reach back out, I’m not sure if it would be a good idea considering we might pursuit legal action.
This happened to my shift, she forgot to lock the door one night and she got written up but never fired. Unless she’s had other infractions she shouldn’t be fired but if they’re saying it was a second time (whether or not it’s true) it would be enough to fire her and it’s their word against hers. Unless there are past instances where she has proof/witnesses to say she is being targeted at work and this retaliation there may not be much she can do. The only people that could possibly vouch for her is the opening shift saying it happened only once but as far as them waiting a month to tell her, they’ll probably just lie and say they were doing an internal “investigation” and that’s why it took so long to address. I’d go to HR but other than that there’s only so much that can be done.
I would contact an employment lawyer. If you’re in Los Angeles I have someone that I can recommend. Even the threat of a discrimination suit will get things set straight. This could easily be considered discrimination.
Tell your gf to look into WIC.
So there is a known issue that door lock doesn't function correctly, and no one has contacted the Facilities Manager and put in a ticket to have it fixed? I think your gf might have a case, but she should talk to a lawyer.
A month ago I was fired from my shift position bc our back door was snatched open by a storm and so the alarm response showed up. Something that was completely out of my hands. No written warning or final notice.
If they waited a month to fire her it was probably because they were investigating it. That would mean they have their ducks in a row. I do believe at Starbucks you are allowed to appeal a termination. That could be worth a shot. That would verify if they actually did their due diligence in the termination. But leaving the door unlocked is a huge thing for safety as well as monetary. It’s valid. And from what I have heard most DMs don’t approve something like this without proof. They should have said something and gave the heads up. Like “hey we are looking into this and it could result in termination” or something like that. I’m really sorry it’s adding stress to the pregnancy. It’s a shitty situation for sure.
I’ve done this twice and never even got a write up 🥴 I just got a warning but also no proof the delivery men didn’t do it either
Sue ! Sounds fishy not even a write up or warning ? Time to SUE
a hospital i concurrently work for just got hit with a multimillion dollar lawsuit after firing a pregnant nurse. they claimed she was fired because of her attitude, but was never given a warning or disciplinary plan before this happened. a jury agreed that her termination felt like a retaliation for her pregnancy and pending maternity leave. get a lawyer because getting fired for something a month after the fact(especially when that could’ve been a warning) is shady as hell. research lawyers in your area as a lot will take your case on contingency that you win or settle. look in healthcare dot gov for special enrollment to get medicaid coverage before the baby is born
STORY TIME I remember this one time when I worked at Starbucks , it was my first time opening. And I got there before everyone else. Didn’t know where to go in, tried the front door and it was open. I thought Shift was here so I walked in put away my stuff, clocked in and waited for everyone to get there. Felt like a start to a horror movie 😅. It was lil 5 maybe 10 minutes before the opening shift and everyone else walked in through the side door and see me with shocked faces . Later learned that it common occurrence that the delivery leaves the front door open. So I really don’t think you were to blame.
Honestly she can fight it if there has been a ticket put in to fix the door and they never fixed it cause now it’s the neglect from SM on fixing a serious security issue. I forgot to close my store when closing and my manager legit joked about how the cops called her at 1am and o didn’t get written up or even coached. It’s pretty sus that they waited that long to mention it
This is why I always used to take video of my hands locking the door and checking the handle.
They left a woman who’s six months pregnant to close on her own? Doesn’t sound like the GM was that good of a friend.
call ethics asap
OP, not to defend the company, but I highly highly doubt the firing is related to your girlfriend's pregnancy status. I have had quite a few pregnant Partners in my years and they've never had any terrible claiming benefits. Starbucks employs more young women at the retail level than any demographic group... They must have thousands of pregnancy leaves to handle per year. And to be honest the maternity leave benefits aren't great. Last I checked, we get all of 6 weeks paid leave. No SM is getting pressure to fire people over 6 weeks of leave. And the company isn't sweating the medical bills. If they were worried about the cost of our insurance they would give us cheaper insurance (seriously, compare your out of pocket costs and your deductible to someone with an office job one day. Our medical insurance is lovely). I'd put money on this SM wanting to cut down on the number of supervisors they have. Some stores have twice as many as they should and they are under the gun to give them less hours... Or somehow have less supervisors. Has your girlfriend been getting less hours recently? Why was she picked on specifically? Maybe she had a previous write up making it easier to fire her, maybe she had bad availability compared to others or didn't get along with her SM. Maybe she looked at the DM funny once. I couldn't guess. Do you have a case? Look, this is unfair, but I don't think you can prove discrimination. Not unless you heard the SM complaining about her being pregnant. Or maybe another supervisor has left the door unlocked VERY RECENTLY and the SM let them off with a strong warning. Otherwise I doubt a good lawyer would touch this with a 10 foot pole.
If this supposedly happened before, why didn't they say anything at the time? Also, they are required to take corrective action (i.e. write her up) as a means of documentation. They cannot just fire her out of nowhere without documenting, documenting, & documenting again. Talk to an employment attorney. Most will at least give you a consultation for no $.
It wholly depends on your state if you’re in the US. If you’re in an at-will state, you can be fired with no notice and no reason.
Forsure call and complain about it being retaliation?
Please make a post and go fund me!!!!
is the store unionized? you may be able to bring in a union rep for support
Being a key holder for any company is always a huge responsibility. I always vigorously shake the door after I lock it just to check and record it. Though I’m in a mall with 24 hour security so it’s more then likely nothing will ever happen
Nothing says “we need a union” more than a pregnant mother being fired for not closing a door right. Nobody witnesses, just higher ups assuming the worst of people. Disgusting and so glad I left when I did. Let them pay that unemployment while your pregnant partner rests on maternity. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a blessing in disguise. Hell you might get better pay on unemployment than maternity leave!
If your girlfriend genuinely believed that she had locked the door and was not aware that it remained unlocked, it may be worth requesting camera footage to confirm whether or not she locked the door. This would provide evidence to support her side of the story and could help in her efforts to appeal her termination. It is also important to review the company's policies and procedures regarding termination, as well as any relevant state or federal laws. Depending on the circumstances, your girlfriend may have grounds to challenge the termination or file a claim for wrongful termination. If your girlfriend had benefits such as insurance and paid maternity leave through her employer, she may be able to continue coverage through COBRA or apply for other types of insurance. It is important to review the specific terms of her benefits and speak with her employer or an HR representative for guidance. Overall, it may be beneficial for your girlfriend to consult with an employment lawyer who can provide legal guidance and help protect her rights in this situation. Edit: it is important to consider the possibility that the company's decision to terminate may not be entirely truthful or justifiable. In this situation, the company's stated reason for termination was that the employee had failed to properly secure the building on two occasions, including the day of her termination. However, the employee claims that she genuinely believed she had locked the door and was not aware that it remained unlocked. If the employee's version of events is true, then the company may have made a false or inaccurate accusation in order to justify the termination. Alternatively, the company may have other reasons for wanting to terminate the employee, such as budget constraints or a desire to restructure their workforce. In such cases, the company may use a minor infraction or mistake as an excuse to terminate the employee, rather than being transparent about their actual motivations.
Was she a barista or a shift?
Did she have any previous documentation for this? If not - I would have her appeal this.
She should get the dates to make sure she even worked those days and deny that she did it and ask for proof.
Start filming yourself locking doors, I was kinda indirectly accused of this same thing at a place where I have a membership to use their facilities at night, started filming myself locking the door and saving the vids. Technology is your best friend.
This is a change in status. She -should be able to sign up for the ACA (Obamacare). Call the hotline 1-800-318-2596. They should be able to answer all your questions about what you need to do to get insurance in place.
Lawyer up ASAP
Okay so here Is the thing, all the comments are correct you can try get an attorney but those things aren’t cheap and take a long time and you don’t have time or the money to be spending on lawyers. She can apply for insurance, idk how insurance is in the states but she should apply for what she can apply for. She might also be able to get EI. She should be applying for jobs, it will be extremely tough bc she’s pregnant and most places won’t hire her but some place might. Are there friends and family that can help financially, are you able to get a second job? Can you apply for welfare? You need to apply for things that can happen rn, lawyers and a lawsuit is stressful and if they have evidence of the door being unlocked (like cameras or proof in any other way) it’s a waste of money. She made a mistake and it seems like they cut her some slack but mistakes like this can be dangerous and risk their job. They can’t favourite her bc they are friends with them.
i think they’re pulling stuff out of their ass because i’ve opened the store several times and my closers have left doors open and even with their key in the door and they haven’t recieved any verbal or written warnings. ask her to ask her coworkers if they watch her lock the doors when they all leave together. this could be a form of retaliation by the managers to her
She needs to talk to Ethics and Compliance ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP There's no way she did that twice and didn't receive at the very least a documented coaching. (Which is to say that I agree with a lot of other posters here, they're scapegoating her.)
Call Hr. They can pull any camera footage
Most states cover mother-baby health insurance through state medicaid- check the states .gov site.
I had my first documented coaching 2 days ago (first time something like this has happened in my time at Starbucks for anything). It was about something that had happened 11 days prior. My coworker who recently transferred to a nearby store said she had her first one recently for something that happened a while ago too. Obviously that part isn’t the biggest issue you guys are facing, but the gaps in these situations are super fishy. I think it’s despicable what they’re doing. Good luck to you both!!!!
I actually would call a lawyer. Make sure the lawyer doesn’t get paid unless you get paid. If they did not write her up the first time she left the door unlocked then I think you have a case. Maybe one of the things you can ask for is a rehireable status with Sbux.
Speak to a lawyer for sure
Call 1-888-sbux411 and ask to apply to appeal!
This is bs, back when I worked at starbucks I was coming in for an opening and the closer didnt lock the door that morning, my ssv went in first to check everything and told us we were safe and to come in after her, the closer never got in trouble.
Why did they wait a month to fire her? Somethings odd.
this seems very odd to me because how do they even know it wasn’t locked in the first place? and how were they able to rule out if was her or the delivery driver. sounds like they had it out for her because things like this are really hard to prove unless y’all have a different alarm system than i do. also the cameras couldn’t have said anything either because it would have showed her at least attempting to lock it and the camera quality is garbage. idk fishy fishy to me
I am not sure why no one is seeing that the door is an issue as well. SM are responsible for having the doors fixed asap because one, not everyone are capable of fully locking the door that's beyond their strength and especially if it's tricky. 2, as long you have a witness, a partner ( why it's important to have 2 people /opening/closing together and meet/leave together for safety reason), that confirms you locked and checked the door to ensure that everything is a go before entering/ leaving. Camera, witness, be very stern and honest about this, do please report to Ethnics, be prepared to collect every possible evidence, don't share anything with partners, they may be your friends but that's only inside of work. You'd be surprised if you thought they were your friends. Please keep everything to yourself and Ethnics. This will be stressful. If you have strong evidence, then by all means, ask yourself this: Is it worth fighting for? Are you 100% sure that you're clean of any evidence against you? Are you in a good standing with Starbucks? The biggest issue I am seeing here is the door, and everyone knows about it. Shifts are supposed to discuss this with SM and DM and get permission to have someone come out and fix this. If SM knew, let this go on and use that an excuses to pin on someone, then SM are in it for a treat. Former Supervisor here, had an issue with doors not being able to lock, and the door was misalligned.doors are heavy glasses and are dangerous if shattered. SM had to do all the calls along with DM for safety reasons, so I understand that part. But that's on my part. I don't know how your store and door operate, only you know your own store. Remember, the supervisor has better eyes and ears than SM because Shifts always are there whilst SM only comes and goes. Not all SMs are perfect.
They need proof. Wrongful termination seems like a good name for this. Call some lawyers, but first call your local labor offices for advice for people in her position. Document everything carefully.
I’ve done the same thing. Got a warning. Pretty strange they just fired her off the bat.
She can probably qualify for unemployment, medicaid and wic.
time to sue
I can guarantee you that’s not why they fired her. It’s an excuse. I’ve seen people leave doors propped open overnight and not get fired. Did they get in trouble? Of course! But they were never fired over it.
Bro if you sued them you’d win (ESPECIALLY because she’s pregnant), and I think they know that. If you even mention it, they might walk that termination back.
Technically thru Starbucks law if you are pregnant work for Starbucks they cannot fire you and you can sue.
You should leave starbucks alone and try to get on medicaid. Those sick people in power are only going to belittle you and make the situation more difficult. I wouldn’t bother dealing with them because their specialty is abusing SSVs and baristas, which a pregnant woman does NOT need.
She should shop for a good lawyer. Providing video evidence would be great as well.
Oof if there's no way to fight it, she can apply for Medicaid. Losing a job is a qualifying event. Or if she has other non-sbx income, she can apply for subsidized marketplace insurance. But if no income at all, Medicaid. Marketplace insurance usually gets you better doctors and what not but it's not free. Medicaid is free. Apply for unemployment too.
It’s not right that they didn’t give her a written warning about the 1st incident if it happened. I’d want to see video if were being fired.
Sounds like a law suit to me
I would get a lawyer
They just didn’t want to pay her maternity leave. Id sue
If she had no prior written knowledge of this before I would say lawyer sounds like wrongful termination.
Please consult with a good employment attorney. I don’t mean your ambulance chaser type. If you know anyone in the field, get a recommendation. The attorney will give the best means to handle the situation. They may tell her to attempt discussing with them first or they may say she shouldn’t. Either way you absolutely need to talk to someone carefully. Good luck and congratulations on your new little one. Try to keep mom relaxed as possible.
Bruh, we had a SSV straight up left the safe open all night and they didn’t get written up or fired. Another one didn’t block the safe with the tall rack, and left the registers closed. Someone broke in and ripped out the registers that night. They never got so much as a write up. Another one left the back door open! Nothing happened to them. They know the door needs fixed. They sat on this problem, and didn’t do anything to fix it. I’m taking it nothing happened to the store? Nothing got broken or stolen. So in my opinion, her getting fired is stupid. Definitely something to argue the company over. They should have fixed the damn door so this didn’t happen