Popular coffee brand draws criticisms after staff wrote PWD customers' disabilities on cups, called them out loud

A popular coffee brand at a mall in Muntinlupa drew criticisms after alleged discrimination of PWD customers by writing the type of their disabilities on their cups and calling them out loud.

In a Facebook post on July 22, social media user Marivic Cruz recalled going to Starbucks at Festival Mall with her husband, Daniel, "to relax after work."

Cruz noted that she has a psychosocial disability, while her husband has a speech disability.

"Since I was already tired, he was the one who ordered at the counter," Cruz said. "When he came back to our table, nag-iba 'yung aura nya. Then he showed me the name written on his cup."

Her post included a photo of their orders with both the labels "Speech," followed by smiley drawings.

"This is so disappointing," Cruz said. "And then you even called out my husband based on the name written on the cup? This is truly disappointing."

In a comment to her own post, she provided additional details, like how a staff member supposedly told him, "Here po 'yung ID, Daniel."

She recalled questioning why the cups were labeled "Speech," especially since PWDs' names and ID numbers are being encoded.

"Hindi po ba kung ano ang nakalagay sa PWD Card yun din ang ilalagay na pangalan sa cup?" she said. "[P]er transaction ang name ng cup. Nasa IDs na ang name, Hot for Marivic, Cold for Daniel. As easy as that."

She also claimed that the barista said they thought "Speech" was Daniel's name.

In an edit to her post, Cruz noted that the branch manager "acknowledged their mistake" and apologized to her and Daniel.

"But still, part of us—especially my husband—was humiliated by what happened," she said. "He rarely approaches people, and now it seems like he’s starting to feel traumatized even just by ordering at other restaurants."

"Knowing that I also have a social disability, this is just too much," she added.

The post has over 152,000 reactions (two-thirds "Sad and one-third "Angry"), 39,000 shares, and 5,800 comments.

Many users expressed concern over the incident.

"This kind of treatment is heartbreaking," one user said.

"This strikes a chord in my heart because para sa akin almost all the time, the mere act of placing an order with a staff/cashier is very hard as I have a visual disability," another user said.

Other users, meanwhile, urged Cruz to file a case against the brand.

Hours after the incident had gone viral, the National Council on Disability Affairs said it "expresses serious concern" over the recent incident, which it called "insensitive, inappropriate, and in violation of Republic Acts 7277 and 9442, the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities."

The Magna Carta's Section 8 Chapter 2 prohibits vilification against PWDs, through calling a person by his disability in public which results in humiliation; using a person's disability as an example in a manner that is embarrassing and humiliating; a public activity inciting hatred, serious contempt, and severe ridicule against PWDs.

"Such actions perpetuate stigma and undermine the dignity and rights of persons with disabilities," the NCDA said.

It called on Starbucks management "to address this issue immediately, take corrective steps, and ensure their staff are properly trained on disability rights and sensitivity."

"We also urge all establishments to uphold respect, equality, and inclusion—principles that go beyond compliance and speak to the heart of a truly just society," it added.

Starbucks Philippines issues apology

In a statement sent to PhilSTAR L!fe, Starbucks Philippines said they have reached out to the couple and that they "sincerely apologize for this incident and for the distress it caused them."

"Our investigation has confirmed that when our employee was shown the customer’s ID card, to access a discount for disabled customers, he mistook the disability listed as being the customer’s name," they continued.

"We fully acknowledge our mistake and will reinforce with our teams the values and service standards that we expect. This will include further enhancing the training which we provide aimed at fostering a strong culture of inclusion and treating everyone in our stores with dignity, respect, and care," they added.