Starbucks fires employee for making “scrumptious” steak tacos in work oven

Eleni Thomas
Starbucks fires employee header

A Starbucks employee was reportedly fired from their job after they were caught using their work oven to heat up and make their own food, with the worker uploading the situation to TikTok in a video that has now gone viral.

All workplaces have rules and regulations that employees must abide by. For Starbucks, one such guideline is that staff are seemingly not allowed to use their work oven to heat up personal items.

At Starbucks, customers are able to purchase items such as sandwiches and other savory snacks which can then be toasted in the cafe’s industrial oven.

In a recent TikTok video, user @fugnarr uploaded a video of them making steak tacos while working a shift at Starbucks, with the employee detailing the full rundown of how they made their meal using the Starbucks convection oven. However, the video then cuts to an image of the workers, with the caption “Goodbye Starbucks, that steak was fire.” The video also shows what looks to be a “notice of separation” document. 

Starbucks employee fired for cooking lunch in work oven

The video, which now has almost 500k views, was captioned, “steak so scrumptious HR investigated me for the secret recipe.” The video can be viewed here:

In the comments section of the TikTok, @fugnarr revealed that a coworker had “tattled” on them and as a result, their supervisor was notified about the situation. However, they didn’t seem too bothered, even detailing the recipe for the steak tacos.  “Turkey pesto button x3 times then flip and 3 more Turkey pestos,” they explained.

The video is filled with comments from people showing their support for the ex-employee. “They should’ve promoted you instead I’m tired of the 3D printed sandwiches,” one commenter said. While another wrote, “You were just reheating your lunch, wrongful termination.”

And while it is still unclear whether or not they were fired from Starbucks solely for reheating their food in the oven, a Starbucks worker explained in a Reddit thread that it is against policy for employees to do so.

“Per Starbucks policy and food and safety procedures, we are not supposed to warm up our own personal food we bring from home in the ovens.”

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About The Author

Eleni is a Melbourne-based journalist. Having completed her Bachelor's in communication (Journalism) at RMIT University, Eleni is now a Senior Writer for the Dexerto Australia team. A big Nintendo fan (with a Triforce tattoo to prove it) and a lover of the zombie genre, Eleni covers gaming, entertainment as well as TV and movies for the site. She is also passionate about covering Queer and female representation. Contact Eleni at eleni.thomas@dexerto.com