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Muslim Woman Files Discrimination Charges After Starbucks Barista Wrote ‘ISIS’ on Her Cup

2 minute read

A Muslim woman has filed a discrimination charge against Target after a barista at an in-store Starbucks in Minnesota wrote ‘ISIS’ on her coffee cup in place of her name.

“When I first received the drink, I was in shock that in this day and age, something like this could be written,” the 19-year-old woman (whose name is Aishah, not Isis) said at a press conference on Monday. “The word that was written on the drink is a word that shatters the Muslim reputation all around the world.”

Aishah said she repeated her name multiple times to the barista while placing her order. While the employee has since claimed she did not hear her name correctly according to the discrimination charge, Aishah told CNN there is “absolutely no way” they could have misheard it.

After she tried to speak with the barista’s supervisor, Aishah explained she was told that, “mistakes sometimes occur.” (In a statement emailed to CNN on Monday, Target said that they “believe that [the name written] was not a deliberate act but an unfortunate mistake.” Target did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment.) She said she was given a $25 Starbucks gift card and a new drink, but was then escorted out of the store by security officers.

Aishah is now being represented by the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN), who filed a charge on July 6 to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The charge of discrimination alleges that the incident is a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which provides a right to full and equal enjoyment of public spaces.

At Monday’s press conference, CAIR-MN’s executive director Jaylani Hussein said that the advocacy group would not be calling for a boycott of Target at this time but that they would be exercising “any and all options including protesting in front of Starbucks across this country.”

CAIR-MN is demanding that the employees implicated in the incident be fired and that additional training be provided.

 

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