Starbucks Under Fire Again After Black Customer Is Asked To Wait Outside

Starbucks has apologized to a Black customer after they were asked to wait outside.

The popular coffee company is in the news again for one of its location’s mistreatment of a Black person. This new incident happened at one of the chain’s San Jose locations on March 15. A Black man said he was told to wait outside because it was overcrowded under the guidelines for COVID-19.

Bryce Ward said the store’s manager asked him to wait outside, but then he noticed that not-Black customers were entering. Ward says he believes he was asked to stand outside because he is Black.

“I was the only Black [person] in there. I don’t know what was going through her mind,” Ward told KGO-TV, referring to the female manager.

Ward went more into detail in an Instagram video that he posted online. He explained the cashier asked him to wait outside for his order, but two women left the store before he could exit. The women who left opened up more space for Ward to stay inside. But he said that’s when the store manager asked him to leave.

“I’m not saying she hunted me down because I’m Black, I’m just stating the facts,” Ward said in the Instagram video.” This is Starbucks. You guys are supposed to take pride in how you treat your customers.” He added that he asked for a refund.

Later that night, a district manager called and asked Ward what he’d like to be done to resolve the issue. Ward replied, “I just don’t want this to happen to someone else because right now I’m hurt.” A spokesperson for Starbucks told CBS Moneywatch that Ward was not asked to leave because of the color of his skin. Since the incident, employees at the location have been retrained on “how to approach the situation differently, especially when asking people to leave for capacity limits,” the spokesman told CBS MoneyWatch in a statement.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMfn2OVF4lA/?utm_source=ig_embed