Manager called district manager to make claims after workers asked for a raise
Eight workers at a unionized Starbucks South Carolina branch have sued the company and one manager after they claim to have been falsely accused of criminal conduct when they asked the manager for a salary increase.
The workers claimed the manager at the store in Anderson urged police to charge them with assault and kidnapping after they pressed their manager for a raise in August, reported CTV News, citing the complaint.
According to the complaint, on Aug. 1, the workers presented the manager with a letter calling for a raise. She then called a Starbucks district manager and falsely claimed the workers were preventing her from leaving the store, the plaintiffs claim.
Two days later, the manager made a report to the police. This prompted a weeks-long investigation that included police visiting some of the workers' homes, according to the lawsuit. Later, the local sheriff's office concluded the workers had done nothing illegal, the plaintiffs said.
In a statement released Aug. 8, Starbucks noted that the manager had felt unsafe and the workers were suspended with pay pending an investigation, according to the report. The statement falsely suggested they had threatened the manager and engaged in criminal conduct, the plaintiffs said in Monday's lawsuit.
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