A Starbucks outlet in Dublin has had to pay compensation to a customer of Thai heritage, who received a matcha green tea latte with a racist drawing on the side of the cup.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that the customer (Suchavadee Foley) had been racially harassed under the Equal Status Act and ordered Atercin Liffey Unlimited (trading as Starbucks Tallaght) to pay the customer €12,000 (£10,680) in compensation.
Suchavadee Foley v Atercin Liffey Unlimited T/A Starbucks Tallaght [2021]
The incident took place at the beginning of 2020. When ordering her drink, Ms Foley gave a shortened version of her name at the counter so that it could be written on the side of the cup. However, when she received her drink there was a “slanty-eyed” illustration drawn on the side.
The customer filed a racial harassment claim after the Starbucks outlet offered her no acknowledgement that the image was offensive but instead offered her coupons. Ms Foley said she felt offended and demeaned by the incident.
During the proceedings, lawyers for Starbucks argued that the illustration was similar to an emoji and that Ms Foley had initially responded positively to it. Starbucks referred to CCTV footage which showed that the incident had been “benign” and that the “complainant had not been treated less favourably and others would have drawings composed of them”.
The Starbucks outlet went on to argue that they had taken “reasonably practicable” action to stop workers committing prohibited conduct.
In the written ruling from the WRC, Adjudication Officer Kevin Baneham, stated:
“It is not disputed that the employee drew an image of a smile and ‘slanty’ eyes on the cup as a way of marking it as the complainant’s,”
“It is clear that the visual depiction relates to her race. It is as offensive and as unimaginative as a 19th century Punch cartoon,”
Kevin Baneham went on to state that he accepted the employee, who took the customer’s order and then subsequently drew the illustration, “did not intend to humiliate her or make her feel uncomfortable” and that “this was a mistake on her [the employee’s] part and one that she regrets”.
The employee was from the Brazilian city of São Paolo and had started her job at Starbucks only the month before the incident. She gave evidence via an interpreter during the proceedings and stated that she had been “trained to be nice” and drew a smiley face on the customer’s drink “as she thought the complainant was glamorous”.
Following the decision of the WRC, a spokeswoman for Starbucks said it was “deeply sorry” for the incident, adding that:
“We have no tolerance for discrimination of any kind at Starbucks,”
“We accept the adjudicator’s conclusion that our partner did not intend to harass this customer and we have retrained the team at this store to ensure this does not take place again.”
Comment
This case serves as an important reminder to employers of the importance of having in place robust policies on equality, diversity, discrimination and harassment.
It also highlights the need to ensure that employees receive appropriate training on such policies and that such training is refreshed regularly. Having robust policies and training provision in place should help to prevent incidents such as that in this case from taking place.
It should also put employers in a position to argue that they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination, thereby reducing the prospect of being held liable for the discriminatory actions of their employees.
How Nelsons can help
Peter Nicholson is a Senior Associate in our specialist Employment Law team.
For further information in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Peter or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.