They say the termination was for being out of compliance with a Starbucks policy. Yet considering what happened not too long ago with Joe Tessone confronting the Starbucks’ CEO. I find the excuse given by Starbucks for the termination not credible.

The Starbucks Coffee Co. informed outspoken union member and barista, Joe Tessone, yesterday that it was laying him off, just two weeks after he confronted CEO Howard Schultz over the company’s squeezing of employees. Mr. Tessone’s blog post on the encounter entitled, “Howard the Coward: The Day My Boss Ran Away” quickly became an Internet hit among fast food workers and their supporters (online at: http://www.iww.org/en/node/4618).

"When I heard Howard Schultz was in town, I knew I had to get to the store and make my voice heard as a barista and union member," said Tessone, a 4 ½ year veteran of the company with an excellent performance record. "He said he’d speak to me after his interview with the Wall Street Journal only to scurry through the emergency exit the first chance he got. I told Schultz that it was time to dialogue with union baristas and that too many of us we’re living in poverty but he showed nothing but cowardice."

The Starbucks Union is pursuing legal action against the corporation.