Starbucks Apologizes After Six Tempe Officers Were Asked To Leave For Making A Customer Feel “Uncomfortable”

A group of six Tempe police officers were reportedly asked to leave an Arizona Starbucks by a barista after a customer complained.

The incident reportedly took place on Thursday, July 4th at a location on Scottsdale and McKellips roads.

According to Fox News, a statement from the Tempe Officers Association says the officers paid for their drinks and were congregating in the coffee shop. When they were approached by a  barista and said that they were making a customer “feel uncomfortable.”

Allegedly the officers were then asked to move out of the customer’s sight, or they’d have to leave, and the officers decided it was time to go.

The incident has since sparked a #DumpStarbucks trend on social media. While the Tempe Officers Association said in their statement that they understand that this is not a national Starbucks policy:

“This treatment of public safety workers could not be more disheartening. While the barista was polite, making such a request at all was offensive. Unfortunately, such treatment has become all too common in 2019. We know this is not a national policy at Starbucks Corporate, and we look forward to working collaboratively with them on this important dialogue.”

A corporate representative from Starbucks says it is looking into what led up to the incident and that the company has a deep respect for police and the service they do for the community.

Saturday evening, Starbucks issued an apology. In a letter addressed to the Tempe Police Department, the executive vice president of Starbucks apologized on behalf of the company for the experience the six officers had during the July 4 encounter.

“When those officers entered the store and a customer raised a concern over their presence, they should have been welcomed and treated with dignity and the utmost respect by our partners (employees),” Rossann Williams said. “Instead, they were made to feel unwelcome and disrespected, which is completely unacceptable.”

Williams said no customer should have the experience the officers had, and that Starbucks is taking the necessary steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.