Last week, a Duke University official walked into a campus coffee shop and was bothered by the music he heard coming from the speakers. This week, the two baristas who were working that day are no longer employed with the shop.
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs at Duke, said in a statement released Tuesday that he went into the Joe Van Gogh on Friday to purchase some items.
"I was shocked to hear lyrics playing quite loudly. I found them quite inappropriate for a working environment that serves children among others," he said in the statement.
He said he was bothered by the lyrics "I f***** her up real good."
"I expressed my objections to the staff with whom I've always had a cordial relationship," the statement said.
Britni Brown, who was working at the time, said the song "Get Paid" by Young Dolph was on and that it was part of an automatically generated Spotify playlist. She said she apologized to Moneta and immediately turned the song off.
"I paused it and saw which song it was and was like, 'ugh,'" Brown said.
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Kevin Simmons was also working that day. He said he was not involved in the conversation with Moneta.
"When I saw the customer was being verbally aggressive, I could tell by the positioning and body language something was happening. I did not involve myself in it at all whatsoever," he said.
Brown said she offered to give Moneta his order for free. Moneta agreed to pay, and both Brown and Simmons thought that was the end of it.
Moneta said he then contacted the director of Duke dining to express his concerns, and that was the end of his involvement.
Brown said she and Simmons were let go from their jobs on Monday.
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