The Starbucks bear cups have caused chaos across the country as people scramble to get their hands on the holiday item, however, despite the promotional cup being part of this year’s Christmas festivities, the company has opted to be a big Scrooge by allegedly firing an employee who “stole” one of the bear cups.
Léaa Palmer was a Starbucks employee, was being the key word in that sentence, as she would promptly be fired by the company for giving away the last bear cup to a father and son who didn’t have the money for it. In a short video Léaa shows herself working at Starbucks along with the caption, “She doesn’t know it yet but stealing that last bear cup was the biggest mistake of her life.”
In the video caption she explains further, writing, I didn’t steal from the register. “I didn’t curse at a customer. I got fired for giving away a glass bear cup.” Some commenters on TikTok disagreed however. They claimed that, despite her good intentions, she was still technically stealing. “They did the right thing,” wrote one viewer, however, if Léaa is telling the truth then it seems unnecessarily harsh to fire an employee over such a trivial matter.
@leaa_palmer I didn’t steal from the register. I didn’t curse at a customer. I got fired for giving away a glass bear cup.
♬ original sound – LéaaA dad came in with his little boy they’d been waiting outside since 6am for it. When it was finally their turn, the dad realized he didn’t have enough money. So I quietly scanned it through anyway. The woman behind them called corporate before I could even clock out. But idc I’m at least gonna tell the truth about what really happens behind all of this Here’s what I wish customers actually knew about Christmas at Starbucks
Everyone thinks it’s this cute “holiday wonderland” — no. It’s chaos. People literally fight over red cups. I’ve seen customers cry over sold-out tumblers like it’s the end of the world.
The “holiday pastries”? Half of them come in frozen boxes with stickers that say defrost 12 hours before use. They’re not fresh, they’re factory. We just heat them up and add the icing like it’s homemade.
Those “new Christmas drinks”? Most are last year’s recipes renamed with fake hype. Add caramel drizzle, call it Sugar Cookie 2.0, charge $1 extra, and boom — “limited edition.” They know exactly what they’re doing.
One of my old coworkers said you can still claim your glass bear cup at bucksxmas.com, and they’re even giving out $100 holiday gift cards for just answering a couple questions lol. Starbucks probably hates this but idc you guys share this with everyone.
And the “we’re a family” thing? Please. You’re “family” until you give one cup to the wrong person which was literally a little kid Anyways idc anymore ik I did the right thing, but lmk in the comments what you guys think #starbucks #christmas #storytime #girlythings #starbucksbear
Léaa claims that the woman behind the father and son in the queue called corporate which resulted in her being fired. But she wouldn’t be going down without a fight as she decided she would reveal a few company secrets.
Starbucks behind the scenes
The ex-Starbucks employee claims that things are much more chaotic than what is witnessed by the average customer. She says she’s even seen “customers cry over sold-out tumblers like it’s the end of the world.” As for the pastries, Léaa alleges that “Half of them come in frozen boxes.” She also calls out the supposed fake scarcity produced by Starbucks over products like the bear cup as well, claiming it’s all intentional to get people queuing up early in the morning.
Starbucks has seen numerous boycotts in the past couple of years so it makes sense that the company would perhaps want to drum up hype in such a way. However, much of what Léaa claims could be chalked up to her frustration over being fired so take it with a pinch of salt.
But then again maybe Léaa has a right to be angry. If her story of being fired really is true then it seems a little heavy-handed, why couldn’t management have given a disciplinary rather than jumping straight to dismissal? It’s not exactly keeping with the Christmas spirit now is it? She maintains that she “did the right thing” regardless.
