Establishments have protocols that expect their employees to abide by certain rules – no matter how strict or unreasonable they may seem.
Redditor sparkleyfairies is an employee who works at a restaurant owned by a religious couple with a son who is also an employee.
After dealing with the fallout of breaking the one major rule at the restaurant, the Original Poster (OP) visited the “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) subReddit and asked:
“AITA for bringing my co-workers starbucks in a family owned extremely Mormon business?”
The OP explained:
“So I work at a family restaurant with owners that are very Mormon. They are husband and wife and have a son that also works at the restaurant.”
“Anyways, we are not allowed to bring coffee in the store and the menu doesn’t serve anything caffeinated, we could get fired if we do so. They don’t even serve pepsi or coke just the decaf versions.”
“So the husband and wife went on a vacation for a week and the son was running the store. My co-workers and I wanted coffee so bad so I made an order for 4 iced espressos for all of us.”
“we were drinking quickly before the son came but unfortunately he caught as and he’s threatening to get us all fired.”
“This guy happens to vape but doesn’t see the hypocrisy in that. Now one of my co-workers threatened to sue the restaurant because it’s discriminatory.”
“Was it my fault for bringing in the drinks or are the owners discriminatory and I didn’t do anything wrong ?”
Strangers on the internet were asked to declare one of the following:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Redditors weighed in with their thoughts on the OP’s situation.
“INFO: Why didn’t you all just lie and say it was a non coffee beverage? Starbucks sells plenty of caffeine free things.”
“If you were willing to skirt the rules and bring in coffee anyway, why not go all the way and continue lying to your employer?” – SourNotesRockHardAbs
“YTA: ‘The place I work has a policy, and I went against that policy, and now I’m threatening to be fired.'”
“Yowie wowie.”
“Also liking coffee isn’t a protected class, so good luck trying to pay for a lawyer and suing them with your restaurant wages lol” – godrestsinreason
“YTA: you’re just upset you got caught. If you honestly felt so strongly about it you wouldn’t have waited until the owners was gone to sneak in coffee. Also of you don’t like their rules you can quit you are not forced to work there.” – OneMikeNation
“The rules the owner set aren’t ‘drink coffee just don’t let us see it’, they are ‘you’re not allowed to bring coffee into the store.'”
“While I don’t agree with that rule, it’s simple and the owners are completely within their rights to make a rule like that. If you want to drink coffee – which, again, is reasonable – find another place to work.”
“And good luck trying to sue over this. Frivolous lawsuits like this are one reason our legal system so overloaded with BS. YTA.” – milee30
“Nope. If you work in a kosher restaurant you can’t bring outside food into the restaurant unless it is both sealed AND kosher. No meat in a dairy place, no dairy in a meat place.”
“It’s their business, with their rules and if OP doesn’t like it they can find another job. YTA.” – ThrowawayStuckJew
“They’re not forcing anything on anyone. They made a rule about THEIR business.”
“The workers are not obligated to work there, but if they do, they’re obligated to follow the rules or face the consequences.” – BeepBlipBlapBloop
“It doesn’t matter what is the reason why they don’t allow coffee. It’s their rule. As long as they don’t force OP to pray or something like that, is fine.” – SergioFHAR
The following Redditors explained why they decided to declare everyone sucks here.
“ESH. You are an AH for breaking a rule that you know can get you fired. The owners are AHs for imposing their religious restrictions on their employees when it would not impact them in any way. The son is an AH for being a huge hypocrite.”
“Next time, borrow the barista’s sharpie and write ‘decaf’ on the cup.” – ilp456
“I’m gonna say ESH, and I’ll tell ya why. You specifically waited until the cat was away, so to speak, so you knew you’d get in trouble. It’s not discrimination (and trust me, coffee is the closest thing I have to a religion) so forget about trying to sue. Seriously.”
“They also suck because ‘The Word of Wisdom’, which is sorta kinda included in the Doctrine and Covenants, isn’t a strict requirement for practicing Mormons.”
“Most adhere lightly to it, usually in regards to abstaining from alcohol and tobacco, but it’s rather vague on some points and they do tend to pick and choose what they apply it to.”
“‘Hot drinks’ are a no-no, but hot cocoa, cider (non-alcoholic), and herbal teas are fine. Also, every Mormon woman I work with is addicted to diet coke, so go off, I guess.”
“Basically, it’s not really enforced by the church unless it’s temple recommendation time. You won’t be excommunicated for enjoying a cuppa joe. I find it weird that they forbid all caffeinated beverages on site. Even BYU doesn’t do that anymore.”
“It is absolutely not common practice to force those around you to follow your holy health plan, but I know better than to roll up to my LDS in-law’s house with a six-pack. It’s a respect thing.”
“Also (mostly non-related) having worked at restaurants in a dry state, it’s just bad for business. The majority of folks here are LDS, but enough people going out to eat want wine or beer or, hell, a Pepsi with their meal that not offering those things hurts repeat business.”
“I’m not saying you should point that out to them, but all those aforementioned restaurants went bust years ago.” – mountainmorticia
Overall, Redditors believed that it was the business owner’s right to enforce certain rules as they see fit – just as it was an employee’s right to refuse to work at a job with rules they don’t agree with.