In Oakland, a recent incident at Farley’s coffee shop has drawn significant attention, and for all the wrong reasons.
The shop’s owners, Amy and Chris Hillyard, were forced to address a horrifying situation where a Jewish customer was blocked from using a bathroom by employees who made anti-Israel comments.
This confrontation was captured on video and showed a heated exchange between the customer and three employees.
The customer, who had initially used the bathroom, wanted to re-enter to take pictures of anti-Semitic graffiti she had seen inside.
This graffiti included messages like “Zionism = fascism” on the mirror, and “Your neutrality/apathy is enabling genocide” on a diaper-changing station.
The situation got even weirder when the employees accused the woman of “misgendering” one of them.
As the customer was eventually let into the bathroom, employees were heard making statements such as “History didn’t start in 1948, lady,” and “Free Palestine.”
Realizing the seriousness of the incident, or perhaps hoping to avoid a lawsuit, the Hillyards publicly apologized and announced the employees involved were no longer working for them.
They claim to be committed to creating a welcoming environment at Farley’s.
“We do not tolerate any behavior at Farley’s that makes people feel unwelcome or unsafe,” they said, confirming that the employees involved were no longer working at the coffee shop.
“What began as a civil dialogue… escalated into a situation that was shocking and unacceptable. Events like these strike fear in the Jewish community and perpetuate the rise of anti-Semitism in our community and around the world,” they explained.
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In a follow-up statement on Instagram, Farley’s Coffee said that they were not anti-Semitic and promised to conduct “ongoing staff training,” whatever that means.
They pledged to work with community leaders and organizations to ensure that their staff is well-educated and able to peacefully coexist in the community. Their goal is to make Farley’s a welcoming place for everyone.
Of course left unsaid is why their staff was unable to peacefully co-exist with whomever walked in the door in the first place.
I’m old enough to remember when most shops were in business strictly to see their wares and didn’t really care who they sold it to. Employees were told to leave their personal problems and beliefs at home and focus on serving the customer.
The Farley’s coffee shop employees clearly deserve their fate but will their replacements be much different?
After all the owners are responsible for the employee culture at their business and will their behavior and attitudes really change once the spotlight is off their store?.
