The owner of a Triangle coffee shop is apologizing after the firing of two employees at the shop’s Duke University location last week.
The owner of a Triangle coffee shop is apologizing after the firing of two employees at the shop’s Duke University location last week. It all stemmed from a customer complaint about «inappropriate» music being played inside the store. That complaint came from Larry Moneta, vice president of student affairs at Duke University. Moneta said that when he walked into the Joe Van Gogh coffee shop last Friday, he was «was shocked to hear» lyrics that he felt were «inappropriate.»The lyrics were from the song «Get Paid» by Young Dolph, who took to Twitter on Wednesday about the incident:Two employees were fired a short time after the incident. Moneta told ABC11 that, while the employees made a poor decision, he did not demand their firing. In a statement he said:Robbie Roberts, the owner of Joe Van Gogh, issued the following statement:Valerie Johnson of Copeley, Johnson and Groninger in Durham told ABC11 she believes the fired workers may have a legal case.»When there is interference with someone’s employment in a way that can’t be justified, and there is some action that results in damages to the employee, there can be legal liability,» Johnson wrote in an email. «That is the case even if the person is an employee at will and doesn’t have a written contract of employment.»The question to be determined is, was the action done with the intent to injure these employees?» Johnson added. «If the reports of the actions taken by VP Moneta are true, my opinion would be that the baristas do have a case.»
