Last week, a Starbucks barista in the United States became an instant social media hit. He refused to serve a woman customer for not wearing a mask. Clicking the employee’s picture, she posted to Facebook to shame him for refusing to serve her because she was not wearing a mask amid the pandemic. The post was backfired, and netizens slammed the woman instead of not following the required protocols during this time. A GoFundMe campaign was created for the Starbucks Barista, and more than $100,000 was raised as virtual ‘tip.’ Now as per recent reports, the woman wants half of his virtual tip and event went ahead by threatening to sue the creator of the GoFundMe page for slander. Starbucks Barista in US Who Refused to Serve Woman for Not Wearing Mask Receives $80,000 Tips Virtually!

Identified as 24-year-old Lenin Gutierrez, he was working in his usual shift at a San Diego Starbucks on a Monday morning, when a woman customer without wearing a mask approached him. He refused to serve her, and before he could explain the company’s current policy, the woman stormed him up and took a photo of the barista and uploaded on Facebook to bully him. But the post got backfired. The Facebook post which has now been deleted garnered thousands of reactions, and some even conveyed their wish to tip Lenin for the move.

This is when, Matt Cowan, who is close to Lenin, decided to start a GoFundMe campaign, which he named, “Tips for Lenin Standing Up To A San Diego Karen.” At the time of writing this, the campaign raised up to $104,840 as a virtual tip for Lenin. But the woman, identified as Amber Lynn Gilles now wants half of the amount. Why? Because she feels that “they’re using me to get it,” as reported by the New York Times. She was quoted saying, “they’re using my name, they’re using my face, and they’re slandering me.”

Here’s a Short Clip of Gilles From the Interview: 

Meanwhile, Lenin told ABC10 that he plans to use the money to pursue dance and teach it and also donate some to charity. In recent times, many videos have appeared on social media showing how people are not wearing masks during the pandemic. Starbucks earlier stated that it had taken measures to keep employees and customers safe, including asking customers to wear facial coverings at its outlets.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 04, 2020 03:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).