Featured Image Credit: Fox 13
Topics: US News, Food and Drink
Ben Thompson
When you imagine a workplace dispute, it probably doesn't involve a broken car windshield.
At least, I hope not.
But for one barista in Seattle, things got ugly really fast between her and a customer.
Emma Lee, who works at A Taste of Heaven Espresso, was caught on CCTV pulling out a hammer and smashing the windshield of a customer's car.
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It all began when the man, who is a regular customer, ordered a 32-ounce coffee and a 24-ounce water for a total of $22.
Emma explained that she usually charges him $20, but on this occasion, he was insistent on paying less.
"You don’t get to name your own price," she said to Fox 13.
"No one is forcing you to come here. The argument that he didn't know or was scammed doesn’t hold up. The prices are listed."
This led to an argument, in which the man insisted he wasn't aware of the prices and claimed he was being scammed.
Emma claimed the man went on to her by saying: "Nobody is going to miss you."
The 23-year-old also alleged that he had screamed and spat at her, while trying to pry open the window.
The customer ended up hurling his drinks at her.
Not long after, Emma reached out of her stand and smashed the windscreen of the man's car with a hammer.
The barista called the police and filed misdemeanor assault charges against the man.
The customer is now banned from Emma's coffee stand, however, he could take her to small claims court for his damaged windshield.
However, Emma, who serves coffee while wearing swimwear, isn't worried about potentially appearing in front of a judge.
She commented: "Why should this kind of interaction be expected because of the environment? It’s disgusting.
"It’s OK for him to be outraged, but it’s not appropriate for me to respond?"
Over on Instagram, Emma shared surveillance footage of the bust-up, and wrote: "I want to take a moment to address the real issue here.
"The safety of women, more specifically those that are disproportionately less protected.
"We work alone in this industry, wearing nearly nothing and interacting with men (most of which we don’t know) all day.
"The majority of people we meet throughout our shifts are kind, respectful, overall amazing humans!
"However, on occasion we see the ones that think it is appropriate to get violent both verbally and physically."
It's fair to say that opinions were split on the incident, while some condemned Emma's actions, many of her followers came to her defence.