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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUniversity official allegedly didn't like the music in a coffee shop, forced firing of barista
Britni Brown, who is Black, claims the school also fired a white co-worker not involved in the incident to avoid charges of racism.
MELANIE SCHMITZ MAY 9, 2018, 3:12 PM
A Duke University official allegedly forced the school to fire a campus barista who played rap music inside the store last week, despite the fact that the barista immediately turned off the song at his request.
According to Indy Week, barista Britni Brown was working the cash register at Duke Universitys Joe Van Gogh on Friday when Duke Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, a regular at the coffee shop, entered the establishment amid the afternoon rush to order his usual, a hot tea and a vegan muffin. While Moneta waited in line to place his order, Get Paid by Young Dolph was playing over the stores speaker system.
The song contains a number of f-bombs and the phrase, Get paid, young na. According to Brown, who was in charge of selecting the music that day, the song was part of a random playlist curated by Spotify, meaning Brown had no control over the specific selection.
When he reached the counter, Moneta, who is white, told Brown, a Black woman, that the song was inappropriate. Brown quickly apologized and shut off the music. She then offered Moneta his vegan muffin free of charge, which Moneta declined. You need me to ring me up for it right now, he replied, after Brown offered him the item for free a second time.
https://thinkprogress.org/duke-university-official-allegedly-forced-school-to-fire-barista-44f54ef46a67/
dalton99a
(81,065 posts)SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)It's HIM that should have been fired.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)I too would find that offensive,
especially in a public place like a coffee shop.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)So if she immediately shut it off upon you voicing your objection, and she apologized and offered you a free muffin, like she did for Moneta, would you still call to complain afterwards, like Moneta did?
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)that mean? It means that you are in charge. Something tells me that wasn't the first time music like that was played there; and if I was the Dean someone's head would have rolled as well. Maybe the young people there have grown accustomed to and immune to that type of language, but that doesn't mean it's appropriate for an on-campus college coffee shop. It was a tough lesson to learn, but hopefully both learned, or will learn something from it.
yardwork
(61,415 posts)When the customer complained, the employee immediately turned off the music, apologized, and offered to comp his meal.
She didn't choose the song. She was using a music service that randomly plays songs. I listen to Spotify in my car. Plenty of songs come up that o dislike. I skip them.
The better response would be to take steps to ensure that the coffee shop has guidelines in place for employees to follow. There were none. This is a system failure. Firing the employee does nothing to address it.
And firing the employee who had nothing whatsoever to do with the music and didn't even interact with the customer just shows how badly this was handled.
As of today, both the university and the coffee shop owner are falling all over themselves apologizing. People are furious. This was a ridiculous overreaction.
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)This tells me that the language he heard that day was not something that he was accustomed to hearing. I assure you had he played this in any responsible workplace and the VP walked in, more likely than not, he would have met with the same fate. Young people need to learn to be responsible for their actions and stop making excuses when they screw up. Perhaps he felt the penalty was too harsh, and maybe he's right. But I assure you it's a mistake he won't make again. Perhaps it's better he learned it in the Duke University coffee shop/store than later in a workplace in a job he truly valued.
"...According to Indy Week, barista Britni Brown was working the cash register at Duke Universitys Joe Van Gogh on Friday when Duke Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, a regular at the coffee shop, entered the establishment amid the afternoon rush to order his usual, a hot tea and a vegan muffin. While Moneta waited in line to place his order, Get Paid by Young Dolph was playing over the stores speaker system.
The song contains a number of f-bombs and the phrase, Get paid, young na. According to Brown, who was in charge of selecting the music that day, the song was part of a random playlist curated by Spotify, meaning Brown had no control over the specific selection. ..."
yardwork
(61,415 posts)SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)VS.
So which is it?
Response to yardwork (Reply #16)
GeorgeHayduke This message was self-deleted by its author.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)It is Duke that needs a "tough lesson," and Mr. Moneta in particular.
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)opinions; we've all got one.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)Major Nikon
(36,814 posts)No policy existed for what was or wasnt appropriate and the employee was doing what they were told. Theres no way an employee can be expected to comply with something that was never even suggested. Firing someone for a minor incident is in no way reasonable and is clearly capricious. If it truly was a fireable offense they should have fired someone in management for not establishing clear expectations.
Theres other simpler explanations for this anyway.
mythology
(9,527 posts)or play clean versions. That seems like a really basic functional option.
It doesn't really make sense to fire the barista, given Spotify won't give you an option to filter that out.
Dr. Strange
(25,898 posts)If this was one of those Spotify Business accounts, then I would think it would have that kind of option.
If it was a personal account, then someone was violating Spotify's Terms of Service, and the RIAA may show up to bust some kneecaps.
Okay, I'm kidding about the RIAA. (Probably.)
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)It was a very simple comment.
I didn't go into :
shoulda,
coulda,
woulda.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)SMC22307
(8,088 posts)That said, no one should have lost his or her job over it. Unless it wasn't a random playlist and the employee did have control over it...
SaschaHM
(2,897 posts)1. The song came up on spotify. It wasn't chosen by the baristas.
2. The snowflake that had the issues is a "Freedom of Speech is paramount" conservative who was defending the use of N****r by racists less than a month ago.
turbinetree
(24,632 posts)SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)Duke has a racist on staff.
dalton99a
(81,065 posts)Racial slur written on 300 Swift resident's door overnight
By Staff Reports | 04/27/2018
A racial slur was written outside the door of a 300 Swift apartment complex resident overnight, wrote Janine Weaver-Douglas, associate dean of Central Campus residence life, in an email to Central Campus residents Friday morning. ...
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, said Friday afternoon that he hopes there is no relationship between the two incidents.
Wherever derogatory language appears is just distasteful," he said. "I mean, I would repeat some of that, that I find it terribly distasteful and inappropriate."
I dont have a plan for a major initiative, Moneta said. You want to be carefulyou want to react appropriately and not just run around to do things that have no meaning. I think we need to just sit back and think about what is going on that a few people would feel like that was a good way to behave.
As far as we know, its just hit-and-run graffiti," Moneta said.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)Racial slurs spray painted on a residence is a hate crime, not mere "hit and run graffiti." The fact that Moneta refuses to see that tells me he is a racist. Which also explains why he was so harsh with the black barrista over a much milder offense.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,481 posts)turbinetree
(24,632 posts)Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,481 posts)Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)Moneta, who has previously opposed efforts to restrict hate speech on college campuses, told the Chronicle that he was not being hypocritical: To those who feel that Ive flipped on my positions on free expression, I say this. The artist who wrote, recorded and performed the music is absolutely entitled to do so, however offensive I might find the lyrics. (In an op-ed for The News & Observer, Moneta has also argued against the vandalism of Confederate monuments.)
ttps://www.indyweek.com/news/archives/2018/05/08/a-duke-university-vp-walked-into-the-campus-joe-van-gogh-heard-a-rap-song-demanded-that-the-employees-be-fired
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,481 posts)went after whoever happened to be working there. And even after a perfectly reasonable explanation. Still decides to fuck these workers over. What a dick.
Now I would love to see that little whiny voiced chode Shapiro and that asshat Sam Harris swoop in and defend the staff in the name of free speech on campus. But I won't hold my breath.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)And who better to push around than a young black barista?
Ready for a game of "What If"? I am. What if, instead of Larry Moneta, an actual mature human being (call him "Marry Loneta" had entered Joe Van Gogh that day and heard the song? Let's further posit that like Larry Moneta this human being had a lot of power and weight to throw around. How might this totally hypothetical and clearly non-existent person approach this very same situation?
What if, instead of being all pissed off at the lyrics, Marry had simply approached the counter when his turn came, and calmly said to Britni Brown, "Is that an appropriate lyrical selection for an on-campus coffee shop?" As she did with Larry, Britni apologizes to Marry and shuts off the music. Instead of being an authoritarian jerk like Larry, what if Marry said, "No problem, but there are children coming through here as you know, and as a responsible official of the University, it will surely come back to me if a parent with her child hears f-bombs and young nigga. I don't know about you, but I don't need that headache. Can I help you select music more appropriate to the University, its faculty, students, and visitors, or is this episode over?"
What if the lesson taught in this teachable moment wasn't "I can push you around, so I will, you're fired" but "Let's maintain an atmosphere that everyone can enjoy"? And then leave a $20 in the tip jar.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)he is getting slammed on his twitter account. lol
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)"You don't know what this means to me, as a lowly African American barista working on a white supremacist campus."
said the barista
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)yardwork
(61,415 posts)jalan48
(13,797 posts)Why fire someone over this unless they had been given a prior warning. The Dean sounds like a power tripper.
Dr. Strange
(25,898 posts)If she was in the UK, she might have been convicted of a hate crime.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-43816921
ornotna
(10,763 posts)Corgigal
(9,291 posts)back into the store. It's private property so they can do it. Serve him the papers, let him play victim but this guy isn't worth the hassle. He's a person looking for a news story, or making himself feel important. Kick him to the curb, and keep your staff.
LuckyCharms
(17,287 posts)when he heard that naughty language.