Homophobic Rant at Starbucks Sparks Investigation
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: June 15, 2011

If you needed more proof of the power of the Internet, look no further than this episode. A couple of days ago a woman named Missy walked into a Centereach, Long Island Starbucks with her daughter. They decided to wait there while Missy's wife got her haircut. Once seated down, they witnessed a shocking homophobic rant right in front of their eyes. 
According to their account, three Starbucks employees spewed homophobia towards a fourth man, Jeffrey, who needed to compose himself and ultimately left the store. After he left, the employees continued to rant about homophobia for several minutes in front of store customers. After leaving the store, Missy approached and hugged Jeffrey. She then published an account of the incident on her blog. That account has gone viral and has prompted Starbucks to begin an investigation into the incident. 
According to Missy's account, the employees said "He should not get upset at the things people say to him. He should be used to it. It’s not like he turned gay yesterday" and to Jeffrey's face, "It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but ten years from now you will thank me for this."
Here's part of the official Starbucks response to the incident: "We are disheartened by the allegations reported in an East Coast Starbucks store and are taking immediate measures to investigate and take any steps necessary to make this right. The actions reported do not correspond with our values, who we are as a company or the beliefs we try to instill in our partners."
What do you think the company should do?

Comments:
Sam
June 15, 2011

Please consider the difference between their, there and they're before the publication of an article. The misuse of a word distracts from the subject matter of the article.
Jeannie Brazeal

I think perhaps you should stop trying to discredit an article because your grasp of grammar is weaker then the writer of the article. If you are angry about the content in the article use some constructive criticism about the logic behind the story and ignore your impulse to correct grammar that isn't wrong.
This article is a very good read and it was informative. I for one am glad the author asked our opinions.
Sam

Please consider the difference between their, there and they're before the publication of an article. The misuse of a word distracts from the subject matter of the article.
shannon

If you are talking about the "their" in the first paragraph, it is fine.
Francesca

No, it isn't. It should be "there". There is a place. They waited there, as in at Starbucks. "Their" is a possessive pronoun.
Jeannie Brazeal

yes they possess "Their" eyes... it would make it incorrect if they had said right in front of there eyes... it needs to be their eyes...
Erin

I think the company is doing everything they can at this point which is to investigate. A company can set forth policies and expectations, but it is impossible to monitor 100%. Right now it is the word of the employee's against the customer's. Depending on the state employment laws it could be very difficult to terminate the employees w/o evidence, but certainly it can go into their records. I presume that a company as large as Starbucks has policies and training on harassment of both co-workers and customers.
Michael Rhian D...

Fire the bigots!
Michael Rhian D...

Fire the bigots!
Jeannie Brazeal

Agreed!