Barista $78K Richer After Refusing to Serve Woman

Lenen Gutierrez told her she's supposed to wear a mask
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 28, 2020 1:10 PM CDT
Barista Gets $78K After Refusing to Serve Woman
Lenen Gutierrez, barista at a Starbucks in San Diego.   (YouTube)

A San Diego barista is over $78,000 richer after standing up to a woman who wanted service without wearing a mask, ABC7 reports. "It's so shocking to see something get so big that only happened within a few minutes," says the barista, Lenen Gutierrez, in a Facebook video. Seems it all began when Gutierrez wouldn't serve Amber Lynn Gilles at Starbucks: "Meet lenen [sic] from Starbucks who refused to serve me cause I'm not wearing a mask," the 35-year-old San Diego woman wrote along with a now-deleted Facebook photo of him. "Next time I will wait for cops and bring a medical exemption." That led to Gutierrez pal Matt Cowan posting a GoFundMe page seeking "tips for Lenin standing up to a San Diego Karen."

Now Gilles, a self-proclaimed anti-vaxxer who doesn't believe in masks, tells NBC San Diego she's the victim: "I never threatened him and I've received death threats, thousands, it's very upsetting. It's very scary," she says. Gutierrez tells a different story, saying that "she flipped me off and said I don't need [a mask] and she started cursing up a storm." As for the donations, he says "thank you for all the love and support" and urges people "to be kind to one another and to love each other." People notes that California law requires people to wear masks in public, including cafes and restaurants. A summary of 172 worldwide studies has shown that masks and N95 respirators can reduce the chance of coronavirus infection from 17.4% to roughly 3.1%. (More face masks stories.)

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