Kansas Barista Says She Was Fired For Wearing A Face Mask To Work

NETHERLANDS-HEALTH-VIRUS

A woman from Kansas who works as a barista was fired from her job after she showed up to work wearing a face maskGrayce Leeper told KCTV that her mother was worried that she was going to work during the global coronavirus pandemic and urged her to wear a mask over her face.

When Leeper showed up to work at a Scooter's Coffee shop in Olathe, she was told by the manager to take off the mask. She refused and explained she was worried about contracting COVID-19. The manager told her that the CDC says healthy people don't need to wear masks, while the shop's owner was concerned about how it looked to have an employee wearing a mask.

"For them to ask me to take off my face mask when that company doesn't even offer me health insurance was absolutely heartbreaking to me," Leeper said. "I was in tears."

Despite working at the coffee shop for over a year, Leeper was told that she could either take the mask off or go home. Instead of risking her health by removing the mask, Leeper left.

"I could take it off or get out, essentially," Leeper said. "That was heartbreaking to me. I have worked there for over a year. I was devastated, I thought these were people I could trust."

To keep up to date on the latest news about the coronavirus and to understand what you need to stay safe and healthy, check out the Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction podcast from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content