Inside the Fight to Bring Restaurant-Bathroom Access to All | Eater
"Long described as a de facto “public restroom” in America, this ubiquitous coffee chain became the center of a national controversy after a widely shared 2018 video showed two Black men arrested at a Philadelphia location for waiting to meet a friend and asking to use the restroom; employees had refused non-customers and called the police, resulting in trespassing charges. The company later adopted a policy explicitly allowing anyone to linger in its stores and use restrooms without purchasing, but implementation has been uneven—reports say some New York City outlets still lock bathrooms or require secret codes. Store workers shoulder much of the restroom-maintenance burden (what one former employee called “Star Walks”), dealing with messes, overdoses and vandalism, and businesses often cite cost, hygiene and security concerns for restricting access. The chain’s situation highlights larger problems: a shortage of public toilets, the role of private businesses as gatekeepers to basic needs, and how restroom policing can intersect with racial bias and exclusion." - Jaya Saxena
