Trans Starbucks worker sacked after scuffle with customers caught on viral video

A transgender Starbucks barista has been caught on video in a heated argument with a female customer and scuffling with a man.

A trans Starbucks worker clashes with customers. Picture: @OliLondonTV/Twitter

A transgender barista at Starbucks has been fired after she was caught on video escalating a heated argument with a female customer and allegedly scuffling with a man who filmed the incident.

The nasty confrontation, which has since drawn a police probe for alleged assault, took place late last month at a Starbucks branch near the ferry terminal of Southampton, Hampshire in the UK, the NY Post reports.

The 56-second viral clip starts with the female customer shouting, “Don’t ever call me transphobic! Ever! You do not know me!”

The Starbucks barista, who has stepped in front of the counter alongside the enraged customer, replies, “You’re calling me a man. You’re being transphobic, Karen, now get out.”

Trans Starbucks worker clashes with customers. Picture: @OliLondonTV/Twitter

After calling the customer “Karen” — an insulting social-media moniker for white women who have a bone to pick — the altercation heats up further.

Again, the Starbucks employee orders the woman to leave the coffee shop. “Now get out,” the employee says while motioning toward the door.

Despite the woman repeatedly ordering the worker not to call her transphobic, the Starbucks employee persists, clapping in her face and refusing her demand for a refund.

“You are transphobic, now get out,” the employee says again before telling the woman she’s “trespassing now”.

The man filming the squabble is then heard saying, “Apparently, we said something transphobic”, as if in response to a passer-by who asked what’s going on.

Transgender Starbucks Employee screams at woman for misgendering him, then proceeds to violently assault a man filming the altercation.

Is this an acceptable way for staff to behave @StarbucksUK ? ☕️ pic.twitter.com/NPDjrYYSKG

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 7, 2023

Immediately following the comment, the Starbucks worker storms over to the filming man. The employee is then seen lunging toward the phone and swatting it out of the man’s hand.

The worker is then heard in the background repeatedly ordering the man to “give me the phone”.

“Let go of me,” the man replies as the violent scuffle appears to spill outside the coffee shop onto the street.

The dust-up occurred at a licensed Starbucks location that isn’t owned by the company, according to a Starbucks spokesperson.

“The licensee has confirmed that the partner [employee] no longer works at the company,” the spokesperson added in a statement. “Starbucks has no tolerance for behaviour of this kind and we are very sorry for the experience that this customer had.”

The squabble happened at this Starbucks branch in Southampton. Picture: Google Maps

The heated scene was posted to Twitter by media personality Oli London on Sunday. Since then, it’s garnered more than 4.4 million views and has prompted heavy criticism.

Hampshire police told The Daily Mail in a statement that it “received a report of an assault at Starbucks in Beresford House, Town Quay in Southampton on Sunday 30 April”.

“It is alleged that a staff member became verbally abusive towards a customer within the premises, before assaulting a member of the public who was filming the incident,” the statement said, adding “no injuries were reported”.

The investigation is ongoing.

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Trans Starbucks worker sacked after scuffle with customers caught on viral video