A Starbucks customer says an employee smacked her in the face with a wet rag after she complained her drink was made incorrectly

• A Starbucks customer said an employee hit her in the face with a wet rag after she complained about her drink.
• The employee denied the accusation, and told NBC10 that the customer started the fight.
• Starbucks said that it fired the employee after an investigation.

A Starbucks customer in Philadelphia said that an employee smacked her in the face with a wet rag after she complained that her drink was made incorrectly.

The employee denied the accusation, telling NBC10 that he had instead "waved" a wet rag in the customer's face, and that the customer had then started a fight. The customer was "swinging at me," he said, adding that he'd been left with a black eye and bruises.

A Starbucks spokesperson confirmed to Insider that the employee was fired after the company investigated the incident.

The altercation took place in a Starbucks store in Philadelphia city center on Saturday afternoon, NBC10 reported.

The customer, who spoke to NBC10 on the condition of anonymity, said that she planned to file charges.

She said she asked staff to remake her drink, and that an employee "caught an attitude."

"When he remade it he had an attitude about it. Filled my cup halfway with caramel and slammed it on the counter."

The customer told NBC10 that she asked staff to speak to a manager, but was told there wasn't one nearby. She said a male employee then smacked her in the face with a wet rag.

She didn't say whether or not this was the same employee who remade her drink.

She told NBC 10: "He took his wet rag, smacked me in my face with it, and he swung at me. So we started fighting. I was shocked for a second. Then he swung at me so I swung back.

"What he did should not have happened at all. You don't do that at all."

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The employee told NBC10: "I waved a wet rag in her face that I had in my hand. Not trying to hit her or anything and she proceeded to jump across the counter swinging at me. And at that point my fight or flight response kicked in.

"If anybody was left with more damage it was me."

The Starbucks spokesperson told Insider: "Starbucks is a place where everyone should feel welcome. We've separated the partner (employee) after our initial investigation and connected with the customer, apologized and will be meeting with her in person to make things right.

"The type of behavior described in this incident is not indicative of the type of dignity and respect we want our partners and customers to show when in our stores."

Do you work at Starbucks? Got a story to share? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com. Always use a nonwork email.