California coffee shop workers fired after anti-Jewish remarks in viral video
Three workers at a California coffee shop, featured in a viral video for preventing a Jewish woman from accessing the restroom while making antisemitic remarks, have been dismissed from their positions.
The owners of Farley's East in Oakland, Amy and Chris Hillyard, announced on social media that the conduct of the employees shown in the video was “shocking and unacceptable,” leading to their termination, the New York Post reports.
“We do not tolerate any behavior at Farley’s that makes people feel unwelcome or unsafe. Because this act was not aligned with our values, the employees involved in the incident are no longer employed by Farley’s,” the Hillyard’s posted on social media.
“We can and must do better — and this starts with us creating a safe space for anyone who patronizes our coffeehouse.”
The video, captured by the customer, depicted three of the shop's employees obstructing the woman from accessing the coffee shop's bathroom.
The customer, alleging that she had previously entered the bathroom and observed antisemitic messages on the mirror stating, “Zionism = fascism” and on a diaper-changing station with “Your neutrality/apathy is enabling genocide” written on it, was trying to re-enter to record these statements when she was blocked by the employees.
An employee then told the customer that the café is “private property” demanded that she leaves.
While the customer firmly maintained her right to use the public restroom, a different employee remarked, “I know Israel loves taking private property and saying it’s their own, but we got to head [out],” simultaneously motioning towards the exit with his hand.
A woman from a neighboring business intervened, offering the customer to use her stores bathroom, but the customer insisted to be allowed to use the one with graffiti.
“All you’re going to get is a video of us saying that ‘Zionism is antisemitism’ because it is,” said the employee.
“If you agree with [the graffiti], why are you afraid that I take a picture of it?” the customer responded.
Farley’s issued an apology Thursday after the video went viral online, sparking controversy.
“The staff handled the situation poorly and we apologize for this error and the distress caused to the customer. We’ve taken corrective measures with our staff and removed the offensive graffiti,” the coffee shop wrote in their apology.
“We’re committed to ongoing staff training for a safe and welcoming environment. Thank you for understanding that we are a small business doing our best to operate a community business in a difficult environment.”
Ian Miles Cheong
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Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. He’s kind of a big deal on Twitter.
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