What happened at Starbucks? Barista suspended after writing ‘monkey’ on Black customer’s coffee cup

A Starbucks employee in Maryland has been suspended after a woman reported that the barista had printed the word "monkey" on her drink label. The incident took place on November 19 at the Annapolis Mall.

The customer, Monique Pugh, came forward to share the details with Carl Willis from 7News DC on Thursday, November 24. She told the reporter about being the only person of color present in the shop at the time.

When Pugh went to place her order for a venti caramel frappe, the barista looked hesitant. She picked up a cup to prepare the frappe with an air of disinterest. Once the order was ready, the employee put it down on the table and backed away. It was then that Monique noticed the word "monkey" printed on the cup, where her name should have been.

After the incident, Monique informed the other baristas at the shop about "monkey" being printed instead of her name. One of the employees responded to her and said it was a mistake. After asking for a refund, Monique left the store and called Starbucks’ customer service to elaborate on everything that went down.

She further shared that the store's general manager reached out to her with an apology, along with a free sandwich and drink, but she turned down the offer. However, no apology came from the employee who entered "monkey" instead of Monique.

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Starbucks' licensee releases a statement shedding light on the incident while apologizing to Monique Pugh

Following the incident, Starbucks claimed to have contacted Impeccable Brands, the licensed owner of the said store in Maryland, to investigate the matter. A representative of Impeccable Brands sent a statement to 7News that stated:

"As a licensee of Starbucks, we are committed to upholding the mission and values of the Starbucks brand in our customer interactions and business operations. We are aware of the regrettable incident that took place at our store in Annapolis, Maryland. We have suspended the employee involved in this incident pending further investigation and have communicated our deepest apologies to the customer for this negative interaction."

The licensee said that based on their initial investigation, they believe "the label was made in error." In the same apology statement, they further wrote:

"However, this is not the warm and welcoming experience we want to create for our customers and we are actively working to ensure this does not happen again. We are exploring other opportunities to better train our staff in understanding cultural and racial sensitivities, to ensure all future interactions are welcoming and inclusive."

The Impeccable Brands' representative also added that serious measures will be taken to ensure hurtful and offensive words are not printed on drink labels in the future.

Starbucks informed 7News that the employee, who has been identified by Monique as a woman named Tina, was suspended after the incident. Monique also received an apology letter from a spokesperson at Impeccable Brands. However, it came down to the same inference on their part of the label being made as a mistake. Monique shared her thoughts on the apology, saying:

"That it was bogus. And the fact that they keep saying it was an honest mistake...so now it's an honest mistake and a labeling error?"

She said the incident has left her disappointed:

"If you didn't hear my name, you should have said, 'excuse me can you repeat yourself?' Not once did she do that. She labeled me what she wanted to label me."

After Monique's video went viral, many people on Twitter came in support of her as they expressed their sympathy and condemned the incident.