Former Starbucks employees in Anderson file lawsuit against company, former manager

Eight Starbucks employees, three of whom were fired by the company, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Starbucks and a former manager, Melissa Morris, who accused the employees of kidnapping and assault prior to the start of a shift in early August.

A summons for the lawsuit was filed on Oct. 17 after the Anderson County Sheriff's Office found that Morris' criminal accusation was false, according to the summons.

Phone numbers associated with Morris according to public records had been disconnected by Oct. 17, and Morris did not have a lawyer identified in court records for the summons.

On Aug. 1, eight employees at the Starbucks on Clemson Boulevard in Anderson surrounded a store manager and presented a list of demands that included better pay, equipment upgrades and better staffing, according to Mya Ourada, a store barista at the time.

On Aug. 3, Morris, the Starbucks store manager, in coordination with Starbucks management reported to police that the workers had assaulted and kidnapped the manager on Aug. 1, according to the summons.

According to the summons, the Sheriff's Office told a reporter, "None of the allegations were true... The employees did not stop her from leaving and did not put their hands on her, which is what the boss reported had happened."

"Starbucks knew exactly what they were doing when it smeared our reputation, painting us as criminals," Aneil Tripathi, a former employee who was fired, said in a press release. "They abused the law enforcement process to intimidate us and keep us terrified that a knock on the door would be the Anderson police coming to take us away."

Starbucks and Morris have 30 days to answer the claims in the summons.

"We are reviewing the details of this matter and look forward to defending the company against the allegations made," a Starbucks spokesperson wrote in an email to the Independent Mail. "No Starbucks partner has been or will be disciplined for supporting or engaging in lawful union activity — but interests in a union does not exempt partners from following policies and procedures that apply to all partners."

Check back for more on this developing story.

– A.J. Jackson covers arts, entertainment and more for The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail. Contact him by email at ajackson@gannett.com, and follow him on Twitter @ajhappened.

This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Former SC Starbucks employees file lawsuit against company