Woman Finds Hidden Camera in Starbucks Restroom

A Starbucks in downtown Atlanta is raking in negative attention after a customer discovered a hidden camera inside the unisex restroom.

According to a report from the CNN Newswire, a woman called 911 to report a hidden camera found in the male and female friendly restroom of a Starbucks in metro Atlanta. The women claims to have noticed a “small camera while using the restroom,” located under a baby changing station situated directly in front of the toilet seat.

Police state that the woman gave the camera to the Starbucks manager, telling him where she had found it, to which he said he would file a report with corporate officials. Unsure of the situation, the woman decided to call police herself.

The officer who arrived to the scene said the shift manager had turned over the camera, along with a battery pack and USB cable.

The report goes on to reveal that the manager told the officer that had would have followed “company policy” to file the incident with “appropriate personnel.” When inquired by the officer if he was not to “not call the police,” the manager replied, “no,” adding he “figured he’d end up calling the police, but wanted to confirm with a higher manager to make sure.”

The camera held at least 20-25 videos, many of which show people using the restroom.

While the date on the camera was from 2015, the shift manager told the officer that Starbucks would help to provide security footage it authorities provided them with details of a specific time and date of when they believe the camera was set up.

Starbucks has been in the news a lot lately. Following the viral footage capturing the arrest of two black men at a Starbucks location in Philadelphia, CEO of the Seattle-based coffeehouse, Kevin Johnson issued an apology.

In a statement released by the company, Johnson said the situation that saw two black men arrested had a “reprehensible outcome” and promised he has “immediately begun a thorough investigation” of its practices.

“In addition to our own review, we will work with outside experts and community leaders to understand and adopt best practices,” Johnson said. “The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks Mission and Values.”

Johnson went on to say that Starbucks is working diligently to create an “environment that is both safe and welcoming for everyone.”

“Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome — the basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong,” he added. “Our store manager never intended for these men to be arrested and this should never have escalated as it did.”

The company will look to host a company-wide meeting in the coming days to share learnings, “discuss some immediate next steps and underscore our long-standing commitment to treating one another with respect and dignity.”

“I know our store managers and partners work hard to exceed our customers’ expectations every day — which makes this very poor reflection on our company all the more painful,” he said.

The video, which was captured by Twitter user and author Melissa DePino, shows just the end of what went down during the incident that has led to public outrage.

The two men were found to be waiting for a friend when they were asked to leave, as witnesses tell CBS News. Police were then called to the scene.

Though the two men remain unidentified as per their lawyer, Lauren Wimmer’s advisement, she tells CBS Philadelphia that they were at the Starbucks for “less than 15 minutes, waiting for a third person to arrive for a business meeting over a real estate project.”

By the time their client had arrived, so did the police.