“That’s not just a diabetic needle,” a downtown Starbucks store manager told barista Carlos Nieto after he was pricked by a needle during a closing shift last August.
After a day of slogging through drink orders, Nieto, 21, said he and his coworkers were closing down the store. They all just wanted to go home. Nieto tossed the trash bags—some from behind the coffee bar and another from the bathroom—into a dumpster. When he tried to make room for more bags, something pricked his left index finger.
It turned out to be a used hypodermic needle.
When Nieto reported the incident, his store manager said he should “probably go to the doctor.” But it was nearly 10 p.m. on a weekend night, Nieto said. And he had to work the next few days, too.
“Three days afterward, I went to the doctor,” said Nieto. “The doctors told me I should’ve gone to the ER that night [of the incident]. The [required] medicine, which is a preventative for HIV, only works in the 72 hours after you’ve been pricked.”…
