A former Starbucks barista in Hillsboro has sued the coffee giant, saying it discriminated against her based on her Wiccan religion.
In a complaint filed Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court in Portland, Alicia Hedum said a manager at Starbucks’ Hillsboro Landing cafe asked her to remove her Wiccan cross several times, even though other employees, including the manager, wore Christian crosses.
Hedum accused Starbucks of retaliating by refusing to promote or transfer her, reducing her hours and scrutinizing her “minor tardiness.”
A Starbucks spokesman said she was unaware of the lawsuit.
Wicca, a nature-based religion often described as a form of witchcraft, has been the subject of other employment discrimination cases. A Wiccan member of the Industrial Workers of the World union complained last year to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that a New York City Starbucks discriminated against her based on religion.
Hedum worked for Starbucks in Cornelius and Hillsboro from March 2004 until her Aug. 29, 2005, dismissal. Hedum’s suit also accused the retailer of retaliation, wrongful discharge and workers’ compensation discrimination.
Hedum’s attorney, Craig Crispin, did not make her available for comment.
Source: OregonLive.com
that’s some wrong stuff. may the gods blessings go out to her.
scrutinizing her “minor tardiness.” Oh and how many time was she late??
Looks like THIS may be the real reason she was fired.
It’s quite possible, Yawn. But then again, that’s also the kind of “official reason” that employers give to hide a decision to terminate employment due to discrimination. Based on the severe lack of information, it’s impossible to say whether this is an unhappy ex-employee trying to get revenge for a rightful termination or a legitimate case of discrimination.
However, it should be noted that this wouldn’t be the first time the a Starbucks barista was harassed over Pagan jewelry. As such, the matter certainly bears further investigation.
i think she did good to sue starbucks for the discrimination
hopefully companys and shops will think twice beafore harrasing peoples religion.
She did the right thing. We should stand by our beliefs. I am not Wiccan, but I support everyone’s freedoms.
If we’re to make a place for ourselves, we’re going to have to stand up. We’re going to have to let these people know we aren’t a bunch of little pussies who’ll scurry back into church once told to take of our symbols. We’re here to stay, and the more we stand up for ourselves, the better!
This saddens me, especially with it happening in Oregon. As a Wiccan and a former Starbucks employee I was never discrimated against. Luckily, Starbucks requires their stores to keep emaculate records so if she was truly a bad employee and was fired for that, each instance will have been reported and she would have had to sign every form to acknowledge the problem. If it was discrimination, then that will be obvious too. There is nothing in the Starbucks company dress code that prevents a person from wearing a sign of religion. I wore many wiccan religion symbols to work every day and was never told to remove it.
Truthfully i believe this is a problem with the manager of that store rather than the company that is actually very accepting. But if there was any discrimination, they’ll be able to find it.
I’m sorry but this is just wrong the starbucks here actually lets us have meetings in thier store and does
not seem to mind. If it is a matter of business that they let us stay there it is one thing but to say that you cant be here because of your belief that is wrong and i would call also
I certainly hope that this matter turns out to be as easy to investigate and discover the truth as you suggest, Megan.
Wow. This one throws me on a real moral fence. I’m tempted to boycott ‘Bucks because of this, but I am a caffeine addict…the point is semi-moot, since the nearest one is 50 miles away from here! I guess I’ll still go there if there’s no other choice, but I’ll have my pentacle hanging proudly around my neck, and if they give me shit about it, well, 3 times the shit back to ‘em.
Lomarcan
@ Lomarcan
I hear Dunkin Doughnuts’ coffee is excellent.
Incidentally, there have ben significant updates to this story as of today. For example, it’s been revealed that the discrimination suit also involves a workman’s compensation case:
Also, the good folks at OrgeonLive has made a copy of Hedlum’s complaint available from their site.
Not so much, really… Ms. Hedum’s “minor tardinesses” that were “scrutinized” in the first article, go WAY beyond minor. She was, on average, more than 15 minutes late twice a week, and would call out on less than 2 hours notice twice a month or more. And for the record, there was another (very) openly pagan (I’m not certain of her path) who worked at the very same Starbucks (and was good friends with Hedum) without incident or complaint for many months more than Hedum. I’ve also known a great many Starbucks employees, from baristas up through district managers who are openly pagan and have never had an issue or complaint (other than the occasionaly old crispy christian customer who can drop dead for all that it mattered).
Ms. Hedum’s issues with Starbucks is more that she has little sense of priorities, and like to spend a wee bit too much time in the bottle if you catch me.