TikTok user @karens.exposed0 said staff at a Starbucks in Texas called the police on her after she sat in the store for an hour without buying anything. She posted a video of her exchange with the manager on TikTok.
In the clip, the manager tells her she must make a purchase to stay. The TikToker said the confrontation was racially motivated.
Woman Accused Starbucks Manager of Racial Harassment
The woman said she had been working at a table for an hour when the manager approached to clean a nearby window. She identified the staff member as the manager. “This lady right here. You’re bothering me because I’m Black…. I do my work here every single day,” she said in the clip.
She said she could order whenever she chose. “I’m not on your time. Bother somebody else,” she told the manager. “You’re not gonna bother me because I’m Black and I’m minding my business. I’m doing my work,” the woman added.
Manager Said Customers Must Make a Purchase to Stay
In the video, the manager apologizes and said, “It’s a policy,” that customers must make a purchase before staying and using amenities such as Wi-Fi. The woman denied that it is a policy. She said she visits the store every week to work.
“I will order something when I’m ready. Leave me alone,” she said. Before the video ends, she added: “Leave me alone. Bother someone else. It’s harassment.”
Per her account, staff contacted police and told them she was trespassing. She did not post video of the manager speaking with officers. In her caption, she wrote: “If you’re Black, stop giving these people your Black dollar. I’m serious.”
TikTok User Shared Her Account of the Police Call
In a separate post, the social media user said she and her colleagues often visit the store and “spend money there almost every day” while working on their businesses.
She said her life was “immediately in danger” once staff called police. “The issue is, why were police being called before I even got the opportunity to order my drink?” she said. “We are talking about law enforcement, people who carry guns, with a history of brutality against black Americans.”
She also noted, “The manager lied to police about her causing a disturbance and criminally trespassing.”
She did not provide video of the manager making those claims. The video does not include a response from Starbucks or the manager.
How Starbucks’ Store Policies Have Changed Since 2018
Starbucks announced an open-door policy in 2018 that let the public use its restrooms without making a purchase. Per CBS News, the policy followed an incident in which a Philadelphia store manager called police on two Black men who tried to use the restroom during a business meeting.
After the incident, Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores temporarily to train 175,000 employees on racial bias, and the Philadelphia manager was fired.
In 2025, under new CEO Brian Niccol, Starbucks reversed the open-door policy. The company said it wanted to make its locations “more appealing by prioritizing customers” and revised its Code of Conduct. Under the updated code, employees can ask a customer to leave and in serious cases, seek help from law enforcement if the customer does not follow the rules.
TikTok Commenters Debated the Starbucks Confrontation
Some TikTok commenters supported the manager. “If you’re not buying their product, you have no right to sit in there and use their Wi-Fi,” one wrote. Another wrote: “Sitting for an HOUR without ordering is ballsy.”
Others criticized @karens.exposed0 for bringing up race. “It has nothing to do with color; it’s not a library nor a free working space; it’s A COFFEE SHOP,” one commenter wrote.
Another wrote: “Why do they always use the race card when you know they’re in the wrong?”
