Nationwide — Kevin Key and his wife, Nelisa, an African American couple from Richmond, Virginia, say a Starbucks worker refused to help them during a medical emergency because they didn’t wait in line. Kevin, who has Stage 4 kidney failure, needed water immediately, but was denied it at the counter.
On March 30, Kevin and Nelisa were at Short Pump Town Center for a comedy show when Kevin suddenly fell ill. He started sweating, leaned over, and began vomiting. Nelisa, knowing the signs from past episodes, rushed to find ice water for a quick remedy.
She ran into the nearest Starbucks and explained the emergency to customers in line. They let her go ahead, but when she asked the barista for water, she was told twice to wait in line like everyone else, even after pointing to her visibly ill husband outside.
Kevin said the delay could have worsened his condition.
“A situation that should have taken, like, less than probably 10 seconds to get water, turned into a nightmare instantly,” Key told WLBT. “I could have possibly blacked out. It could have had a more dramatic impact on my body. My kidneys could have possibly just shut down.”
Fortunately, Nelisa spotted Capital One Café right across from Starbucks. She rushed inside, and an employee immediately gave her ice water. Kevin drank it and felt better within moments. Weeks later, he met the employee and thanked her for her kindness.
Starbucks later apologized, saying they’ve been in contact with the couple and are retraining staff to act with more compassion. However, they emphasized that water requests should go through the register to avoid disrupting operations.
Nelisa said they received a gift card, but felt Starbucks still failed to take full accountability. “Starbucks had a decision that day, like I said before, to pick policy or humanity, and they chose policy,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kevin found a kidney match in his sister-in-law and will have a transplant in July.