Duke’s President Apologizes for Barista Firings That Followed Administrator’s Complaint
By Julian WyllieMay 10, 2018
At Duke U., a complaint by a senior administrator about a profane song at a campus coffee shop led to two employees’ being fired. The president, Vincent Price, has apologized.
Duke University’s president, Vincent E. Price, apologized on Thursday for the recent firing of two baristas at a campus coffee shop, according to the student newspaper. In a written statement, Price noted “that we are not where we want to be as a university.”
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At Duke U., a complaint by a senior administrator about a profane song at a campus coffee shop led to two employees’ being fired. The president, Vincent Price, has apologized.
Duke University’s president, Vincent E. Price, apologized on Thursday for the recent firing of two baristas at a campus coffee shop, according to the student newspaper. In a written statement, Price noted “that we are not where we want to be as a university.”
The baristas, Britni Brown and Kevin Simmons, were dismissed last week after a complaint by the vice president for student affairs, Larry Moneta. He said that when he visited the coffee shop, they were playing a profane rap song “loudly,” which was “inappropriate for a working environment that serves children, among others,” according to a statement he released.
In an email message to the campus, Price said several racially charged incidents there had played a role in the “absence of respect for others.”
“I am, in particular, sorry that the words of one of my senior administrators recently resulted in two individuals working for one of our on-campus vendors losing their jobs; and while I am pleased that the vendor has taken steps to reverse this action, I apologize for the precipitous and unfair treatment these employees experienced,” Price wrote, according to the student newspaper. “We must do better.”
The rap song, “Get Paid” by Young Dolph, features multiple curse words. One of the baristas, Brown, apologized when Moneta took issue with the song, and said she had offered him a free vegan muffin, but he insisted on paying for it.
Moneta has since said, through his statement, that he objected to the song at the shop, part of a North Carolina chain called Joe Van Gogh, and had complained to the university’s dining director, but that was the end of his involvement.
The company’s owner, Robbie Roberts, has since released a statement apologizing for how the situation was handled, but he said the company’s employment decisions would remain private. His statement did not specify whether Brown or Simmons would be rehired, but said “we are taking steps to remedy this matter.”
