A barista is calling out Starbucks for an odd scenario it decided to use as a teaching moment in a “sensitivity training” video.
In the viral clip that has raked in more than 900,000 views, user Jay (@noelaniss) shared a snippet of the animation he says the company uses to train employees.
In the video, a workplace scenario played out between two animated Starbucks employees, Raj and Latoya. When Latoya realized her coworkers hands are full, she held the door open for him to come through, which the animation’s narrator applauds.
@noelaniis straight people dont even work at starbucks what is this for #starbucks #barista #fyp ♬ original sound – jay
“By contrast, if Latoya holds the door for Raj and mutters ‘gay men are so weak,’ that could be considered harassment,” the narrator explained.
Jay captioned the video, “Starbucks training?? Why would anyone say that unprompted?”
The Daily Dot reached out to Jay via TikTok comment and Starbucks via email.
Many took to the comments section to say that’s not how discrimination really goes down in the workplace.
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who was dying at this,” one user wrote. “This training was not realistic at all lol.”
“Right??” Jay responded. “Especially the old people one LMAO calling them dinosaurs.”
Others joked insensitive employees may actually learn a few new lines from the video.
“This is the kinda thing people would start saying cause they saw this,” another person wrote.
In 2018, Starbucks had one of the largest racial-bias training programs launched on the same day in 8,000 stores all across the nation. The effort was spearheaded after a Starbucks manager called the police on two black men, who were waiting in the store for a meeting to start. The men were escorted out of the store in handcuffs. Since then, the company released reports on what it learned from its implemented training to increase inclusivity and sensitivity in its stores.
