Starbucks issues statement about Portland bike incident

A Starbucks PR woman says: "The concerns raised by the district manager were regarding [Fabian] Mills’ arriving late to a meeting and being disheveled in appearance, not about his riding a bicycle to work. Starbucks has a long history of supporting alternative transportation commute options for our partners (employees)." Mills contends his manager told him he "should just get over riding your bike" and transferred him to a store that would lengthen his commute by 16 miles. (BikePortland.org)

Comments

[Josh]

Transferring a guy to a new store because he showed up late to a meeting strikes me as a very hostile, immature thing to do. Starbucks and this district manager just don't come off well in this.

[Christy]

Off Topic: Can anyone tell me when the Christmas blends/drinks make an appearance this year? Willthere be a website similar to the red cup last year?

Thanks!

[Deusx]

Transferring someone to a new store isn't something that happens in four days. This would of already had to of been in the works, which is why she brought the topic up.

[Someone]

It's very lame of Starbucks to have denied any wrong-doing here. I suppose it will be easy to prove if Fabian was late or not since other people were at that meeting...
It's allways disappointing when the big corporation takes a stand against the little guy-I thought Starbucks was better than that.
I'm glad this story got the coverage it did.

Fabian: I hope you continue to fight this, especially since they're publicly calling you a liar.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Yes rebel, rebel and we will bring the Siren whore to her knees! Anyway did anybody know that the secret to light frappucinos are in fact because they don't contain whip cream. If you get whip cream on a light frappucino it has more calories and calories from fat on it, then if you got a regular frappucino without whip cream. Pretty crazy!

Re Light vs reg fraps: if you order a reg coffee frap, grande, the calories are 260, fat grams are 3.5 and sugar grams are 44. A coffee light frap, grande, has 150 calories, 1 gram of fat and 20 grams of sugar. So, actually the light mix IS lighter than the regular, and there IS a BIG difference!
Neither of these come standard with whip, or sugar syrups. So, order light, if you MUST have a frap and stay away from heavy cream ( which everyone must know has heavy calories and fat).

[bob]

someone:

currently we're at an impase: with two different truths - and assuming that starbucks is the one lying is as dumb as assuming that fabian is...

and he is publicly calling them liars now too.

i've never seen starbucks look down or discourage bike riding.

i've never seen anyone transfered as punishment for biking.

a transfer doesn't take moments to happen, they can often take weeks, especially if it was to replace a planned leave (not a termination)... plus - they can't force you to transfer. they can ask, and if you deny them - it could be carrer limiting; but they can't force you.
he could've always said no.

however, i've never been in fabian's city, store or shoes - so i won't say that he is lying, or even percieving thing wrong.

sometimes the ideals fail through the humans who enact (or not) them.

Christy, Red cups with the holiday trio beverages are here Nov 9. But I received gingerbread last week. Eggnog should be here by Nov 1.

Bosten read the manaul again. I think you read the customers brouchure. If you look the whipcream isn't counted for any Frappuccino.

Heavy cream is also high in carbs as well. .5 grams per 2 TABLESPOON. Do the math and make a venti, thats alot of tablespoons, carbs, calories and fat.

[Zipy]

If it was any other company, and someone showed up from a hard bike ride -- late -- to a meeting, they would get writen up. Odd's are he didn't just get moved, out of spite, to a new store. Starbuck's hardly wants angry employee's giving out bad drinks and giving the company a bad name. As he is doing now. They lose money when that happens. I could see this being an issue, for deposit, though. If he can't do his job because he chooses to ride a bike -- thats his problem. It's not starbuck's job to work around his life, theres plenty of other people -- with cars -- who will do and want the job just as much. Welcome to the busniess world.

[MGR]

The Holiday Trio starts on the 1st, not the 9th. The website is "itsredagain.com"

[Someone]

Bob: I never assumed starbucks was lying-I said it was lame for starbuks to deny any wrong doing. Their statement offered no explaination-if they were right and Fabian was wrong somehow, it would be in their best interests to set that out in their statement on the subject. As far as I can tell, Fabian brought it to the attention of a group that made the situation public. Starbucks took the bad press seriously enough to respond publicly.
And by the by, thay CAN force you to transfer. There is no promise of locale-just employment. That you have never seen anyone punished for biking or seen the company look down on biking is not at issue here. A partner felt HE was punished for biking and he got it aired in public. I look forward to hearing more details on the subject as they come out. Fabian and Starbucks: keep us posted.

Starbucks says he was late and disheveled. Fabian Mills says he was early...
So, where are the witnesses? We know the PR lady wasn't there, so, I'd like to hear from the others who were at the meeting.

This is easily solved, it's not rocket science.

[Supposed Eric]

No matter what the labor market conditions are, it is always best to retain a competent employee. Punative transfers of employees because HR won't let you get rid of them is not a valid retention policy. Of course, some dim-wit managers in any company don't think of retention that way. It is clear that Mills and the so-called manager aren't getting along so well anymore. Starbucks should be cross-checking this, with a view to maybe redeploying (yes by transfers if need be) the two not-getting-along-so-well employees so they are both working in areas where they don't have to deal with each other and yet are comfortable with their commuting situations. And if Mills is right, then the manager who ordered his transfer should get a "bad review" so he has time to take his mind off advancement for a little while and think about getting along with his diverse work force.

VINDICTIVE ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[marcus]

Starbucks is taking small steps to become a "sustainable" company. However, this incident shows that the Starbucks management is not aligned with their buisness/marketing goals. By encouraging employees to ride bicycles to work, Starbucks would be doing its part in decreasing its environmental footprint. For every 1,000 miles that an individual bicycles, 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions are not released into the atmosphere. Starbucks should be a model of "sustainable" business practices.

[joe]

I'm getting ready to start at a Starbucks and wonered how difficult it is to transfer to a new store i.e. do you have to work for the company for so many months before you can request a transfer?

[melman]

i was also wondering about transfering. If necessary, can a transfer be immediate?

[Ms. King]

Fabian mills is the biggest beget ever and should had been transfer for showing up late. He was just as hard on all his employees at BANK OF AMERICA on MLK.

[joe]

Ms. King, if you want anyone to read your post in any seriousness, please use the english language (or any other official language for that matter). How did you make it through grade school with that utter lack of grammar, spelling, and syntax?