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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Meredith Clark

Starbucks barista claims he was fired for wearing suicide awareness pin in honour of former co-worker

TikTok / SBWorkersUnited

A former Starbucks barista and union organiser has claimed he was fired by the American coffee chain for refusing to remove a suicide awareness pin which memorialised a former co-worker.

The barista, Will Westlake, was fired last week from one of the three Starbucks chains in Buffalo, New York – the site where unionisation efforts throughout the country began late last year. According to Bloomberg, Westlake was told by management that the pin violated Starbucks dress code.

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