Sharon’s wrongful termination

Hi! My name is Sharon Gilman and I have been a partner at Starbucks since May 2020. I moved to Raleigh for school back in August 2021 and began working at the Starbucks on Wake Forest and Six Forks. I met some wonderful people and formed strong relationships whilst I was there.

On February 13, 2022, a day before my store went public about unionizing, I was in the back-of-house doing dishes when the spray head above the sink broke off and fell on me. I had been spraying the floor drain clear of overflow soap bubbles. My shift supervisor, Mackenzie Foster, rushed to the back to help me after I started yelling for help. We ended up closing the store early that night because another one of my co-workers, Elsa Engelbrecht, got sanitizer chemicals in her eye and had to go home– but I digress.

On the 26th of March, I was pulled off the floor to have a conversation with our district manager, Ed Harvey, and store manager, Daniel Butler. I had assumed we were having a conversation about the timeline of the store unionizing, as we have done so in the past. So, you can imagine the shock I felt when he asked me to write a statement of the events leading up to the sink breaking off the wall on the 13th of February. Ed asked me if I had been experiencing any frustration or if something had happened that night that made me angry enough to use excessive force when doing the dishes. Let me preface this by saying I am not an angry person, nor do I exhibit the hulk-like strength needed to intentionally break a metal sink clear off of the wall. With that being said, the timeline of this whole situation was beginning to confuse me: why was I being asked to write a statement for something that happened 40+ days ago? Ed explained that the repairmen told him that the sink breaking like that could not have been accidental. I now had a case with corporate. So I wrote my statement and finished the rest of my 8 ½ hour shift with puffy eyes and a stuffy nose. And that was that.

On April 9, 2022, I was pulled off the floor by our store manager, Ashley Smart, and told that I am to have a conversation with her, Ed, and Daniel outside. Ed hands me a Statement of Separation, I have been fired. Reason being,

“intentional misuse of store equipment” which violates Starbucks Maintaining a Safe Work Environment Standard. I exercised “physical force to company property which significantly affected the workplace, generated a concern for personal safety, and resulted in damage to company property.”

I believe I was wrongfully terminated because of my activity in the union. My name is on the letter and I was quoted in the press release when we went public. Our ballots are being sent out this week (April 11-15), and I believe I am being used as an example to intimidate my coworkers from voting “yes.”

I will be using these funds to help pay for my rent whilst I am searching for a new job. Anything is greatly appreciated! Please don’t feel like you have to donate! God bless you all!!

P.S. If you would like to help unionization efforts, consider going to Starbucks and asking for a cup of water (that’s free) and leave a tip for your baristas! This doesn’t benefit corporate Starbucks in any way and you’re showing your appreciation for the partners that are making the money for corporate!