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Online posts made by barista get him fired

A barista who worked at a Georgetown coffee shop was let go by his employer because of what he was posting on his blog.

SEATTLE — Matt Watson was an employee at All City Coffee for two years and considered himself a good employee.

Watson was fired because his bosses didn’t think what he was posting was funny.

Watson called himself the "Bitter Barista" and made posts anonymously.

Some of his posts were:

“If you remind me four times that you’ve ordered decaf, guess what you won't be getting…”

“What a coincidence! You have a gluten allergy, and I don’t care that you have a gluten allergy!”

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Chris Francis spoke with Watson about the posts.

“It’s actually like part of the Twitter coffee culture, which is why I was so surprised I was targeted, and they just didn’t quite understand that it was satirical,” said Watson.

Some comments Watson admitted are a little more hateful.

“If you’ve ever ordered an Americano with steamed soy milk, you’re on par with Hitler in my book.”

“’Thank you, have a nice day is retail-speak for, ‘I hate you, I hope you die in a fire.’”

A Georgetown neighbor told KIRO 7 that he wasn’t offended with the posts.

“Somebody’s snarky comment in social media doesn’t actually mean anything,” said Robert Chandler.

Watson wasn’t fired until an article from a barista in Portland surfaced that outed him and called his posts “all assaults on his customers.”

“The guys who wrote the article compared me to the Columbine shooters, which is crazy,” said Watson.

Even though Watson doesn’t agree with All City Coffee’s decision to fire him, he understands.

“I get it, they have every right to fire me,” said Watson.

Some people are not sure about someone who makes online comments, even one as harsh as, "Anyone who can't put sugar in their own coffee, should be publicly euthanized," should be fired.

“I would say he gambled and lost. I respect his attempt,” Chandler said.

All City Coffee did not comment about Watson. He said he’s good with his customers and has a few job offers already on the table.

Watson told KIRO 7 that he will continue posting.

KIRO

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