Shannon Mishimagi says all she wanted was to feel safe again.

The 23-year-old student and former Starbucks barista claims that, instead, she was scheduled to work under a supervisor about whom she had complained to management, alleging he had physically assaulted and threatened her.

The allegations are now the subject of a $1 million lawsuit against Starbucks Canada, which Mishimagi claims failed to uphold their duty to make her workplace safe, and the supervisor, Gurjaspreet Jolly.

The company has not yet filed a statement of defence. The Star was unable to reach Jolly. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The Star was referred to Starbucks’ corporate office when it called Mishimagi’s former workplace at Bloor and Runnymede seeking a response to the allegations. In an emailed statement, a Starbucks Canada spokesperson said the company was “committed to providing a supportive and safe work environment” for its employees.

“We take these claims very seriously as they are not consistent with our values and who we are as a company. Starbucks has robust policies and procedures for investigating partner complaints, which we have employed in this case. Since this is a personal matter involving one of our partners (employees), the details are confidential,” the statement added.

The Ryerson fashion communications major says she hopes her case will help focus attention on the rights of young, precarious workers in low-wage jobs.

“It’s a lot of emotion,” Mishimagi told the Star after her statement of claim was delivered to her former employer Friday. “I feel good in standing up. It’s not just for me.”

According to allegations in the statement of claim, Mishimagi was “physically assaulted, verbally abused, and was physically threatened multiple times” by her supervisor. The claim provides no further details of the alleged assault, but in an interview with the Star, Mishimagi said her supervisor approached her from behind and “aggressively” touched her.

Mishimagi’s lawyer, Saron Gebresellassi, says a claim against the supervisor has also been filed with police. The Star has been unable to confirm this with police. No charges have been laid.

The statement of claim alleges Mishimagi’s supervisor had displayed a pattern of intimidating behaviour prior to the alleged assault including “threats to use various harmful substances in hazardous ways toward Mishimagi, and use of violent, disrespectful and threatening gestures.”

She told the Star she was “in shock” at the time of the alleged assault on Oct. 31, 2014. “I’d never experienced anything like this in my life,” she said.

According to the statement of claim, even after learning of the incident, Starbucks “failed to act on the report in any matter.”

Mishimagi was also required to work alongside Jolly after she made her complaint, the statement of claim says. Even after he was transferred to a different Starbucks location, she was “continuously faced with the possibility of encountering (him) while completing her shifts.”

“I was so nervous. I couldn’t sleep. I was so stressed,” Mishimagi recalled to the Star. “All of this when I’m trying to finish fourth year projects — all of that had to be put on hold because I just physically wasn’t well.”

Mishimagi told the Star she wanted to speak out because so many of her co-workers were young and poorly paid, which she feared made it difficult for many to confront what she called an “inexcusable disregard for workers’ rights.”

“She’s speaking up on behalf of hundreds of other workers who are in precarious employment and don’t have the legislation to make work decent,” said Pam Frache, an organizer with the Toronto-based labour rights group the Worker’s Action Centre.

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“Nine out of 10 people wouldn’t have the financial or emotional wherewithal to launch a lawsuit,” added lawyer Gebresellassi.

“It’s not about the money,” Gebresellassi added. “But what we’re really seeking from the employer is some kind of acknowledgement that we need to protect our workers.”

This fall, Mishimagi is determined to return to Ryerson University to finish her fourth year, after stress caused her to defer her studies. But she says her workplace ordeal still haunts her.

“To me it was like, you’re condoning his behaviour and making a fool out of me.”

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