Amber Gilles revealed she considered consulting lawyers to get half of the $100,000 ‘tips’ to Starbucks barista Lenin Gutierrez
Last month, a Starbucks barista was attacked on social media over denying to serve a customer who refused to wear a mask. When a GoFundMe for the barista gained traction, the customer now believes she deserves half of the proceeds.
Online Support
On June 22, Amber Lynn Gilles took her anger to Facebook about a Starbucks staff who refused to serve her because she refused to wear a mask.
A fundraiser was then organized online to collect “tips” for the Starbucks barista Lenin Gutierrez for standing up to her. The fundraiser’s description reads: “Raising money for Lenin for his honorable effort standing his ground when faced with a Karen in the wild.” “Karen,” as dubbed to Gilles, is a slang that refers to entitled white women who lash out in public. The fundraiser was setup by Matt Cowan.
The donation went to as much as $105,445 before the online fundraiser was disabled. It even surpassed by a hundred times the original goal of $1,000.
Claiming a Cut
It was then reported that Gilles has also communicated with layers about getting half of the proceeds, however she found them to be expensive. She instead started her own GoFundMe page.
Gilles also claimed that she does not owe an apology. She claimed that she was discriminated and that people were tolerating that behavior. Gilles explained that she is unable to wear mask over particular health conditions.
In an interview, she said: “One of them I get shortness of breath, dizziness, and it messes with the heartbeat. And I do have asthma as well, and I do get mask-acne. So there’s several things going on and not only that but it doesn’t even work.” She even provided medical documents proving her claims, even backed by an unnamed chiropractor in the papers, who refused to make a statement when asked.
The Tips
In a screen capture included in the GoFundMe dedicated to Gutierrez, Gilles posted a photo of the barista, with a caption: “Meet lenen from Starbucks who refused to serve me cause I’m not wearing a mask. Next time I will wait for cops and bring a medical exemption.” The Facebook post is no longer available publicly after it met public rage from internet users.
This even gained national attention which helped in increasing the amount of the proceeds. CBS News reported earlier this month that the barista met with a financial adviser to manage the huge sum of money and determine how to spend it.
Gutierrez now decided he will use the money for education and for pursuing his dreams of being a dancer.