Target Starbucks barista says team lead berated her over customer’s drink, ended up getting her fired
A Starbucks barista located in Target gave a tell-all about how she was allegedly "harassed" at work, and fired after being targeted by a team leader.
In multiple videos, TikTok creator Ken (@kenleighb) gave viewers an inside peek into her work life and her unexpected firing. Her initial video in the three-part series garnered more than 1 million views as of Friday, and many viewers rallied around her in support after learning what led to her departure at a Los Angeles County Target.
In the first video, Ken highlighted how her Target had started giving drive-up guests the option to order Starbucks so they could get their requested items, along with a beverage, brought straight to their car.
"While this seems great and amazing, and it is, it’s very hard on us Starbucks people because if we don’t hear the physical ringtone of the device telling us that we need to make your drink, we are not going to make your drink because we have a ton of other things to do, and are most likely understaffed,” Ken said in the video.
@kenleighb Consider yourself ✨done for✨ #work #worklife #fired #target #job #halloween #scarytiktoks #scary #rant ♬ nintendo wii (mii channel) song - julie on the internet
Ken focuses on a specific day when she and her co-worker were an hour from closing, but they had missed a drive-up order that had been requested, making the order late by about 18 minutes. Unfortunately for Ken, a Target team leader she doesn’t get along with came to check on the order.
“There’s this really old lady at my work [who] f****** harasses us,” she said. “I don’t even know how many times a day. She’s the one that comes to pick up the order, and I lose it. ”
The team leader is “notorious” for being rude to departments, Ken said. Ken then recounted how the woman was angry that Ken’s team had missed the drink order and allegedly started yelling at them.
“We didn’t hear the ringtone on the device, so we assumed we didn’t have to make a drink an hour before closing for drive-up,” Ken said, also emphasizing how swamped she and her co-workers were with in-store orders. “Because mind you, orders stop at 7:30pm and nobody usually orders past 5pm.”
Ken emphasized that the team leader felt little sympathy for Ken and her co-workers. They ended up making the drive-up order, despite the team leader making rude comments and her getting angry when Ken suggested complaints should be routed to her supervisor.
"At this point, I’m done with this dumb b****. So I’m just telling her to leave...’I’m done with you. You need to leave.’ That’s basically what I said over and over again and she finally left," Ken said.
@kenleighb Part 2 for yall ???????? #work #worklife #fired #target #job #halloween #scarytiktoks ♬ original sound - ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Ken ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
The team leader eventually gets the drink, but the saga continues for two more days, according to Ken. The next day at work the team leader’s boss chastised Ken about the exchange.
“So she pulls me into the office and says that I was being disrespectful, [and] I should not have told her to leave no matter what because she’s a team lead and that I was at fault for this,” Ken said.
Then, the following day, Ken’s manager reportedly talked to her, saying other team members had said Ken was the issue in the incident, thus taking the side of the team lead.
"I was like ‘y’all don’t even know what just happened. I just got f****** harassed and you backed up the harasser,” Ken said. "What the f*** is wrong with you?’”
Ken chalked up the outcome to the fact that the team leader had worked at the store for nearly a decade, therefore having some leverage over her. However, she was still dissatisfied with how things went down, and said she recorded every bad conversation she’s had with her managers for any “legal purposes.”
@kenleighb Part 3 for yall ab what HR said ????????✨ #worklife #work #target #fired #job #rant #fp #xybca #juansguarnizo #ye ♬ Quirky Suspenseful Indie-Comedy(1115050) - Kenji Ueda
The Daily Dot has reached out to Ken via Instagram direct message and Target via email.
Viewers on Ken’s videos expressed their support, with some even recounting their own lackluster work experiences at Target.
“I hated working for target,” user Amy (@amys_444) said. “That’s why I accepted coupons for items customers never had.”
“I worked at Target,” viewer ST said (@slynn8105). “No one is more annoying than the old coworker who has worked there way too long and acts like management but isn't management.”
Multiple commenters suggested Ken sue her former employer.
“I was in a situation where I could've sued [for] wrongful termination but didn't,” user Alyssa (@alyssajade1999) said. “I'd recommend it here. Even just the threat of it.”
According to the federal government, examples of wrongful termination include an employer firing you “due to discrimination, in violation of a federal or state labor law, because you reported and refused to participate in harassment or because you reported and refused to conduct an illegal act or safety violation. A simple Internet search has shown that Target has been sued numerous times for wrongful termination. In 2015, the Target Corporation agreed to pay $2.8 million after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “found reasonable cause” that Target had disproportionately screened applicants for positions based on race and sex.
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