Two baristas working at a coffee shop at Duke University are now out of a job after the school's vice president of student affairs complained to management about a rap song played at the shop, reports Indy Week.

Joe Van Gogh coffee shop baristas Britni Brown and Kevin Simmons were fired Monday, May 7, after Duke University VP Larry Moneta alerted management Friday that offensive music was played at the shop.

It was Young Dolph's "Get Paid" being played on the shop's speakers, and the duo would often play songs from Spotify playlists in the shop. That day, Brown was in charge of the music that unfortunately led to their termination.

Moneta told Brown that the song was inappropriate and that a song like that should not be played in the establishment when he reached the counter. He specifically took issue with the lyric “I’ll eff you upside down,” which is not one of the song's lyrics.

To make amends, Brown apologized and offered Moneta a free muffin, but he declined the offer. He paid for his items and left. According to Indy Week, Brown received a phone call from the chain's office asking about the incident. The office claimed they were instructed by the director of the university's dining service to contact the workers.

On Monday, the workers were fired.

"Duke University has instructed us to terminate the employees that were working that day,” chain officials said according to recordings. Brown pleaded her case, stating that the store never discussed the music options prior to the incident. She also defended her coworker who did not have control over the music. She alleges that the company fired him, a white man, to save face.

“When I got hired, the only thing that was expected for the music was for it to be cool music,” she said. “There was no training to make sure that your music was appropriate.”

"[Moneta] was verbally harassing her,” said Simmons, who witnessed their interaction.

Despite the backlash, Moneta still maintains that the lyrics were “quite inappropriate for a working environment that serves children among others.” He told The Duke Chronicle that he did not want the two fired, but he did admit to telling the director of dining services, which led to the call.

"There are other options besides being terminated,” Brown said. “We could have just been moved to another shop. But Duke came in and took our livelihood.” Brown told Amanda Wiley from the coffee chain's human resources department she was disappointed by how Joe Van Gogh handled the situation. “Duke Dining is clearly going above and beyond, but y’all are sitting here and allowing it.”

A Duke University vice president gets two low-wage workers fired because rap lyrics he heard on a coffee shop's sound system annoy him. Guess I need a @nytopinion writer to remind me that lefty undergrads are the real threat to American higher ed. https://t.co/YqCT5KnB7j

— John Edwin Mason (@johnedwinmason) May 9, 2018

Moneta felt comfortable confronting the workers, who did not have issues of misconduct prior to the incident. However, he does not apologize for making the call. Instead, he shifted blame and said it was Joe Van Gogh coffee shop's decision to do as they saw fit.

“I expressed my objections to the staff with whom I’ve always had a cordial relationship,” Moneta wrote. “The employees who chose to play the song in a business establishment on the Duke campus made a poor decision which was conveyed to the JVG management. How they responded to the employees’ behavior was solely at their discretion.”

Duke Vice President Larry Moneta

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