Yale dean placed on leave over "white trash" Yelp reviews

June Chu, Dean of Pierson College, wrote controversial remarks on Yelp reviews of local businesses.



At Yale University, a dean has been placed on leave after writing controversial remarks on her Yelp reviews of local businesses, including calling people who dined at one restaurant "white trash."

Yale dean placed on leave after calling people 'white trash' on Yelp

June Chu, Dean of Pierson College, has been reportedly restricted from her duties at the residential college after several of her past Yelp postings came to light. In one review for a Japanese restaurant, written seven months ago, Chu wrote that going to the restaurant is the "perfect night out for you" if you are "white trash."

"This establishment is definitely not authentic by any stretch of any imagination and perfect for those low class folks who believe this is a real night out," she wrote.

Starbucks employee accuses customer of stealing secrets

"If you want steal our stuff for your store in China, go ahead, we're fine with that."



Oh hell no. Did this really happen? During a recent visit to a new premium Starbucks location in Seattle, one Asian American customer says he got the "acrid taste" of racism with his coffee when he was "lectured" by a corporate employee who jokingly suggested he was trying to copy company secrets to use in China.

On a recent visit to Seattle, Yelp user Daniel L. visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, which is described as intended to be a "Willy Wonka experience" for coffee connoisseurs and amateurs alike. Daniel says the coffee was awesome, and he was ready to give it a 5-star review, but then...

Daniel says he and a friend started chatting with a "corporate guy" from Starbucks who pegged them as people in the coffee business, then advised them, "if you want steal our stuff for your store in China, go ahead, we're fine with that." Later, he followed that up with an unsolicited mini-lecture about good, old-fashioned American training, which cannot be copied. "That's something we'll never give to you." Whaaaaaat.

Here's an excerpt from Daniel's Yelp review:

This is not a good way to respond to a negative Yelp review.

Bac Nguyen, owner of Ninja City Kitchen and Bar, tracked down and sent threatening messages to a customer.



Asians behaving badly... awful restaurant owner edition! From time to time, whether it's fair or not, even the best restaurants get hit with negative Yelp reviews. As a restaurant owner, what you probably shouldn't do is track down the reviewer, insult him and his friends, and threaten him with violence. But that's exactly what one Cleveland restaurateur did, and now he's being slammed with calls to boycott his restaurant.

Restaurant Owner Hunts Down Negative Yelp Reviewer

Last month in Cleveland, Ruchu Tan and a group of friends went out to dinner at Ninja City Kitchen and Bar, an Asian-fusion eatery located in University Circle. His meal was less than satisfactory, which he expressed in a critical one-star review posted to Yelp. All right then. But this did not sit well with owner Bac Nguyen.

Nguyen, who apparently did not know Tan, tracked him down on Facebook and sent him a multitude of intimidating messages, including threats of violence, personal attacks, allegations of promiscuity, and racist and sexist slurs against his friends and girlfriend. Tan posted the exchange:

Sushi restaurant writes "An Open Letter to Bigot Diners"

To the people on Yelp who act like they know a damn thing.



I generally find Yelp to be a helpful resource when researching new places to eat or, say, finding a decent dry cleaner. But the user-generated reviews can also be unhelpful, irrelevant... and sometimes racist. And that's who this sushi restaurant was addressing when they wrote this blog post. The racists.

Mashiko, a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in West Seattle, rates four stars in Yelp, which is perfectly respectable. But they've also apparently received reviews andcomments calling out a lack of Japanese staff (not true) at this Japanese restaurant, including, most notably, a white woman sushi chef. Her name is Mariah Kmitta. Chef/owner Hajime Sato is progressive like that.

Still, the unfounded criticism bugged them enough that Mashiko composed An Open Letter to Bigot Diners on the restaurant's blog. Take that, haters and fools. Here's an excerpt: