Starbucks fired a trans supervisor after staff played ‘pig’ prank on cops. Now she doesn’t have healthcare
Lola Rose was fired from her Starbucks job over a ‘pig’ label. (Facebook)
Starbucks fired a trans woman from her supervisor job after a police officer was given an order labelled “pig”.
Lola Rose, a trans college student, said she was “made to be a martyr” after the incident went viral and is now considering legal action,
She had been working as a shift supervisor at a Starbucks in Glenpool, Oklahoma, on Thanksgiving morning, when a police officer was handed a muffin with “pig” on the label.
Rose told The New York Post that she’d noticed the label and intervened, thinking, “No, that’s not right.”
“I jumped into action, apologised, then I thanked him for his time and for his service,” she recalled.
Police officer told Starbucks manager ‘pig’ label ‘no big deal’.
Rose said that the officer told her it was “no big deal” and that he was a friend of the employee, who had written the label to prank a co-worker.
“The barista was trying to play a joke on her co-worker to see if this co-worker would call these drinks out [as ‘Pig’],” Rose said.
She was unaware that five cups handed to the officer also had “pig” written on them. These made it back to the station, after which chief of police Johnny O’Mara called to make a complaint.
Rose said she tried to rectify the situation by apologising, thanking the chief for his service and offering to buy food for the entire police department.
O’Mara reportedly declined the offer and instead shared a picture of a cup to Facebook, writing: “What irks me is the absolute and total disrespect for a police officer who, instead of being home with family and enjoying a meal and a football game, is patrolling his little town.”
Trans manager left wondering how she’ll pay for rent and medical treatment.
After the incident Rose spoke to her direct managers and filed a report. The following day she was fired, nine months into the job.
She said that she was “hysterical” as she was reliant on the job to pay for rent and to cover the cost of her hormone therapy.
The company is renowned for giving trans employees comprehensive healthcare insurance and offering college students tuition assistance. Rose had applied more than five times before she secured her “dream job.”
“My whole world crashed in front of me,” she told the Post.
“It was supposed to be my guardian angel. They were supposed to be there for me as much as I am there for them but it’s gone because a small-town officer was offended by something and posted to Facebook.”
Starbucks told the Post that a shift supervisor is no longer working for the company following an admission of involvement in the incident.
PinkNews has contacted Starbucks for comment.
