Starbucks says it is considering closing its restrooms for public use once again.
CEO Howard Schultz made the announcement at a New York Times DealBook conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Schultz says that the company is facing a growing mental health problem between its employees and customers due to employees not being able to manage its stores in the current state:
“We have to harden our stores and provide safety for our people,” the Times quoted Schultz as saying at the conference. “I don’t know if we can keep our bathrooms open.”
Starbucks decided to open its restrooms to the public in 2018 after receiving backlash over a Philadelphia Starbucks employee calling the police on two men who were denied use of the restroom and sat at one of the tables while waiting for a friend.
“We don’t want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are less than. We want you to be more than,” Schultz said at that time.
Now Schultz says that they are facing a union organizing drive among its store employees.
While the union has won over only a small portion of the stores so far, the company feels that it may become a problem.