The customer had stammered when asked to give his name in Starbucks.
He complained to the manager in the shop, and then emailed Starbucks. He also shared it on social media.
He said “It made me feel like I was inadequate, like I had been discriminated against and it ruined the rest of my day.”
More: Starbucks fails (stamma.org), May 2025.
My comment
This may well be harassment under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA).
Also Starbucks’ system of having to say your name when ordering can be a problem generally for people who stammer, and may itself be indirect discrimination or a breach of the reasonable adjustment duty under the EqA.
See too:
- Starbucks day of action, October 2024
- Laughed at in coffee shop (Sept 2019)
- Coffee shop mocks stammer on customer’s cup (January 2017).
There is more on Rudeness or mockery: services and public functions.
