Starbucks Accused Of Ageism For Banning Man Who Hit On Teen Barista

A 37-year-old man is accusing Starbucks of age-based discrimination after the coffee chain banned him from the store for hitting on a 16-year-old employee.

According to KREM NBC, the man from Spokane, Washington, said he asked out the teenage barista who filled his Starbucks order. He said he knew she was 16 years old at the time, but he still flirted with her and slipped her a note asking her out.

The next day he went back to the Starbucks, and a local police officer told him that he was no longer welcome to patronize that particular coffee shop.

The man took to Facebook to complain about being banned from the Starbucks; he said he broke no laws and that he maintained "a whole webpage devoted to age gap love." However, if he was trying to garner support then his efforts backfired. Most of the comments were people thanking Starbucks for protecting its employees.

Starbucks has come down on the side of the store's management.

"We have no tolerance for any such inappropriate behavior or harassment, and we will continue to support our store partners and local authorities investigating the situation," a company spokesperson said.