Companies and Brands

Starbucks May Have to Train Employees Not to Videotape Customers in Bathrooms

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: April 22, 2018 6:47 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 12:41 am

On the heels of ugly accusations of racial profiling by a Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) worker in Philadelphia and plans to train workers nationwide to prevent the behavior in the future, Starbucks may need to undertake another sort of training altogether.

Employees should not videotape customers in Starbucks bathrooms

According to Fox 5 in Atlanta:

A woman discovered a hidden recording device in a Starbucks bathroom Tuesday morning, according to the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety.

“She found it taped to the bottom of the baby changing station which is located directly in front of the toilet seat,” Officer Howard Miller said.

Officers said the 25-year-old woman snatched the hidden camera off the wall and immediately told a Starbucks supervisor before calling the police.

“We’ve learned that the device had about an hours worth of recorded video on it and detectives found 8 to 10 men and women videotaped while in that restroom,” Officer Miller said.

Additionally, Fox News reports:

Police have launched an investigation after a camera was discovered last week inside a restroom at a Starbucks store in an Atlanta suburb.

Starbucks does not need a second round of nationwide news coverage about employee practices, even if they were isolated to one store. The question is bound to arise about whether this happened in other Starbucks stores, which then may set off an internal investigation as to whether the practice is broad-based.

Starbucks appears to have dodged a loss of customers after the Philadelphia racial-profiling incident. Video cameras in bathrooms add to the impression Starbucks does not adequately look out for its customers.