Southampton Starbucks employee sacked after ‘transphobic’ row

The row was caught on camera at the Starbucks branch in Town Quay, and gained more than 384,000 views on Twitter alone after being shared online.

Exchanging verbal barbs by the till area of the coffee shop, the video shows a distressed customer that can be heard saying: “Don’t ever call me transphobic, ever, you do not know me.”

An equally distressed employee can then be seen responding: “You’re being transphobic Karen – now get out.”

Karen has become slang for a white woman perceived as entitled or demanding.

READ MORE: Video of two groups arguing in city centre goes viral on TikTok

After again asking not to be called transphobic, the employee is seen clapping their hands in the lady’s face, saying: “You are transphobic, get out.”

In the video below, the customer then demanded a refund, before being told that she wasn’t getting one and was now “trespassing” on the premises.

When women see men who think they’re women in female spaces, they often get themselves out as quickly as possible & say nothing because we all know how men react when we say something they don’t like.

Like, “why are you in here?” or “he”. pic.twitter.com/hmSK90UEHx

— Sall Grover (@salltweets) May 8, 2023

The woman is then seen saying “they’ve got cameras” as the Starbucks staff member responded with: “You’re trespassing, get out, get out!”

The person filming the exchange is then heard on video for the first time saying “apparently we said something transphobic” as he captures the attention of the disgruntled worker who proceeds to walk towards him.

The footage then appears to show the camera operator being knocked over as the employee tried to wrestle the device out of his hand.

The video ends with the man getting up from the ground as people walk by in confusion.

In a statement from Starbucks, a spokesperson said: “The licensee has confirmed that the partner (employee) no longer works at the company. Starbucks has no tolerance for behaviour of this kind, and we are very sorry for the experience that this customer had.”

Starbucks in Town Quay is franchised by Starbucks business partner – 23.5 Degrees.

The video has gone viral since being posted with one person commenting: “Starbucks, are you okay with customers being treated like this? I won’t be back unless I hear you have dealt with this.”