Firing leads to protest at St. Paul Starbucks

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/53307332.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

In a post last week we learned Aizze has been a legal immigrant for 10 years.


Customers, union workers and former co-workers rallied for an ex-Starbucks employee they say has been unjustly fired for theft.

By PAUL LEVY, Star Tribune

Last update: August 15, 2009 - 7:12 PM

When supervisors summoned Azmera Mehrbatu last month, the barista affectionately known as Aizze to regulars at Starbucks at Snelling and Selby in St. Paul assumed she had won an award -- as she had 20 other times in two years at the coffee shop.

Instead, the mother of three -- an Ethiopian immigrant who speaks limited English -- says she was fired. Mehrbatu, 34, says she was accused of theft but presented with no evidence, and was told to sign a promissory note saying she would pay Starbucks $1,200, or supervisors would call the police and have her arrested.

As about three dozen baristas, union members and customers picketed the Starbucks on Saturday in support of Mehrbatu, the woman who knew every regular's drink and could make a latte in 28 seconds was trying to make sense of a case that co-workers say smacks of racism.

"I'm an honest person. I have never stolen, not one penny," she said above honks of passing cars and union chants.

FULL story at link.

also maybe don't "freely" admit that you were giving away product and thought it was OK because "everybody" does it -- "everybody does it" is not a defense for theft

it's pretty clear the lady did steal, if other whiter people also stole, they should get the same of course but if i were the manager, no, i couldn't and wouldn't rehire someone who gave away product

as a legal immigrant, she simply should have refused to sign any admission of wrong doing and told them, go ahead, call the police, i have done nothing wrong -- she might have been fired for some other excuse but she wouldn't have been arrested -- the main evidence seems to be the piece of paper she signed

people admit to wrong doing and then they're sorry later, please, please, just don't confess or sign
ANYTHING until you talk to a lawyer, what's so hard about that? 10 years as a legal resident in america and she has not seen a teevee????

who stole from them before.. i guess its ok to steal as long as its from your employer nowadays..

She says she was coerced into signing a confession.

Things like that do happen you know, and they don't magically change the past. As for "giving away product," the article also says that was encouraged by the management (as it is in some of the Starbucks locations in my neck of the woods).

It's easy to sit safely in your chair there and say what people are clearly supposed to do when you're not locked in a room and ordered to confess to something you may or may not have done, especially when you've got a company the size of Starbucks on the other side of a I-said-you-said dispute. Are you that confident that you'd get away without consequences if you were falsely accused of something?

in the tip jar rather than the till, if thats not theft what is it...

on edit its actually embezzlement but its still a crime...

that she did this. That doesn't mean that she ever did. The article also says, from coworkers, attesting to her honesty and stating that she didn't do anything that wasn't management policy.

It looks like the store took an unexplained loss and someone in management was ordered to hold someone responsible, so he picked someone.

But, as usual, you jump to the worst conclusion and back the authoritarian status quo. There is no such thing as racism. There is no such thing as coercion. Just railroad people and call it done. :eyes:

The co-workers say that management encouraged baristas to give free refills to regular customers. And that Mehrbatu was an excellent employee.

The note Mehrbatu signed alleges that she occasionally charged customers full price, but entered it as a half-priced refill on the register. Then she put the difference in the tip jar.

Whatever the truth may be, management was wrong to pressure her into signing anything. And if the allegation that Mehrbatu was locked in a room is true, then a crime may have been committed. Legal documents signed under duress should never be allowed to stand.

Someone who isn't fluent in English is vulnerable and especially if that person is trapped and pressured into signing something.

her with jail. They basically blackmailed her into signing the admission. Per the article, she and other employees allege giving free refills to regulars was encouraged by management so she was only doing as instructed. Where is the manager in all of this? Why would anyone risk their job by giving away free cups of coffee to customers unless they thought for some reason that it was okay?

Where other employees vouch for her cash register receipts to be balanced every night she cashes out? Or that she's won numerous customer service awards? Or that this is a bullying tactic companies are using against workers to "recap" losses without offering any proof of illegal activity and under threat to call the police? If she really stole the money, you think she'd be out with her fellow workers and customers protesting the action and talking to the press? This smacks of being racially motivated.

embezzlement by putting money in the tip jar rather than the till, or does that not count...

done so freely. Funny how you would jump to protect a corporation despite the facts in the piece suggesting otherwise.

The manager could claim that she admitted to anything. Unless she has "freely admitted" this in front of anyone else, that wouldn't be considered evidence by anyone with a brain. Certainly the article doesn't quote her admitting to any such thing. It quotes her denying having stolen anything.

it must be racial, its the man putting down the worker, this is one were we will see, but im not buyibg her story about being coerced into signing the confession, shes been here ten years not ten weeks..

that someone has really, truly done something wrong. Otherwise you become just a knee-jerk lacky, supporting any asshole in authority and anything they claim or do.

There is no evidence that any money was stolen. No evidence is claimed and none presented.

There is evidence of coercion, and intent to coerce.

Unless the manager can PROVE theft, she's innocent.

You're imagining proof of theft, but ignoring:
1. The proof of coercion
2. The commonness of this tactic in covering unexplained losses
3. The fact that they tried to bill her for the loss instead of calling the police
4. The support of her coworkers, who would have certainly seen her "stealing" if it was so habitual
5. The evidence of her honesty in her til being more accurate than typical
6. Her history of awards and good service
7. And the pride she took in her job, obvious because of the honesty and awards and memory of all the regulars

Against all of that, all you have is a desire to automatically believe the manager and disbelieve the employee for some reason. Though, you often come down on the wrong side of issues for no good reason with a whole lot of emotional intensity, as if you are really emotionally invested in authorities being right and the people under them being wrong. It seems like you have some personal issues going on.

"Mehrbatu, 34, says she was accused of theft but presented with no evidence". No evidence but forced to sign. Police officers have to read you your rights. Workers rights vary by state or finding somebody that cares. Some people here sure don't seem to care.

Maybe I should look for an ACLU Underground??????

They want a simple story. It is all they can handle. :eyes:

And the chain pays them so poorly that they often need to supplement their income. My partner has been at SB for over a year and qualifies for food stamps.

And, no, not every immigrant is interested in watching or getting their info from a "teevee"...

THIS WOMAN WAS COERCED INTO SIGNING A BULLSHIT CONFESSION. How hard is that to understand? :banghead:

This is just one more reason.