Miami woman who has worked at Target for almost two DECADES is fired for buying pink limited-edition Stanley cup to remember mom who died from breast cancer – one of SEVEN employees to face the chop

A Miami woman who worked for Target for 19 years has been fired for purchasing a limited-edition pink Stanley Cup in memory of her mother who died of breast cancer.

Catherine Carter is one of seven Target employees fired this month for purchasing the exclusive Starbucks Stanley Cup, which costs $49.95.

“My mom passed away from breast cancer, so I always try to get as much pink as possible,” Carter said Business insider.

Seven employees said they were fired for violating the company’s employee purchasing guidelines, which prohibit using their position to “gain an unfair advantage over guests” when purchasing products.

This policy especially applies to items with limited inventory, including the Valentine’s Day Stanley Cup that Target shoppers recently lined up outside of stores overnight to purchase.

A barista asked Carter if she wanted one of the exclusive cups at her store’s Starbucks cafe on Jan. 3, she said. The cups were sold in collaboration with Starbucks and were in high demand.

Her managers saw her buy the cup and did not object at the time. Carter added.

Her 19-year career at Target was abruptly ended the following week over the $50 mug.

She expressed her disappointment, saying of her former company, “I just don’t think they’re doing it right. I mean, for a cup. Come on, a cup.”

During her 19 years at the retail giant, Carter said she was “never written up, never called up, never late.”

Like Carter, an employee said his manager explicitly approved the purchase.

Two other employees purchased a mug that had been “incorrectly set aside by a colleague,” and two other employees purchased cups when their online orders were canceled.

A Maryland employee who was a team leader didn’t even buy the cup, which came in bright red or fuchsia pink.

She simply set out the cups ahead of the official release date, at her manager’s request, when other holiday merchandise sold out, she said.

Her store routinely stocks items ahead of schedule to fill empty shelves when other seasonal items sell out, she said.

“I don’t need another Starbucks cup. I don’t need Stanley. “I don’t need any of this,” she said.

“I had one of my team members buy a cup because he was my team member, and he was one of the people who consistently finished with me. If we had a call, I could count on him coming to help.”

All seven Target employees said they were just one of many at their store who were fired over the cups. Three offered to return it but were rejected.

Nearly all claimed that their store managers informed them that the investigations were being conducted under the direction of Target’s corporate offices – which are overseen by CEO Brian Cornell.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Target for comment.

Before the shiny pink version of the Stanley Quencher hit the market in early January, none of the seven employees had heard of a colleague being fired for violating employee purchasing guidelines.

The limited edition pink Starbucks x Stanley version is the third mug release in collaboration with the coffee chain.

Since its release on January 3, fans have flocked to stores and even camped out in the freezing cold to get their hands on the $49.95 cup.

Resellers have taken advantage of the craze, with the item selling for as much as $299.99 on eBay – six times the retail price.

Social media users took to TikTok to highlight the hysteria among Target shoppers, who aggressively reached for the shelves as the store associate said, “maximum of two per guest.”

Although Stanley has been around since 1913, the stainless steel Quencher tumbler has become one of the most popular bottles in the world in recent years – and something of a cultural phenomenon.

Most recently, a 23-year-old woman was arrested in California after stealing 65 Stanley cups worth a total of $2,500 on Friday.

The unnamed suspect ignored employees when they asked her to stop as she stuffed the load of cups into her red car before police tracked her down and arrested her for grand theft, police said.

A police officer saw her just before she turned onto Highway 65 and pulled her over. After searching her sedan, officers discovered a variety of Stanley cups and multiple packs of straws.

She managed to take dozens of the famous Quencher cups, IceFlow Flip Straw cups, food thermoses and even children’s bottles, authorities said.

Photos posted by police showed a suitcase full of cups in a variety of colors and patterns, along with a group of cups piled high on top of a patrol car.

More cups were found on the floor of the front passenger seat, while an unusual bright red Stanley cup was in the cup holder of her car.

‘No wonder I couldn’t find the color I was looking for. She had it,” one commenter wrote on the post.

“While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits,” Roseville police said in a Facebook post.