Starbucks Barista Gets $65,000 in Donations After Customer’s Mask Complaint

Starbucks Barista Gets $65,000 in Donations After Customer’s Mask Complaint

A woman who was not wearing a mask griped on Facebook about the barista, who had tried to explain company policy. Her post unexpectedly led to an outpouring of money for the worker.

The barista said he had never expected that his encounter with the woman would prompt such an overwhelming response.Credit...Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesJune 27, 2020, 5:59 p.m. ET

A Starbucks barista in San Diego has more than $65,000 to fuel his dream of teaching dance after an online fund-raiser was created in response to a customer who was not wearing a mask complained on Facebook about the company's policies and her interaction with him.

The barista, Lenin Gutierrez, said in a Facebook video he posted on Wednesday that it had all started when he was working at the front register and asked the customer, Amber Lynn Gilles, if she had a face mask.

"No, I don't need one,“ Ms. Gilles told him, according to the video. She replied before he could show her a paper explaining the company's mask policy during the coronavirus pandemic.

He said she started "cursing up a storm“ and called people "sheep“ before walking out. A few minutes later, she came back, he said, and asked for his name, took