- Racial discrimination case against Starbucks
- Incident and aftermath at Philadelphia Starbucks
- Lawsuit and allegations against Starbucks
In a case of racial discrimination, Starbucks has been ordered to pay a white former employee $25.6 million (£20.2 million).
After demonstrations at a Philadelphia Starbucks, Shannon Phillips was fired in 2018. A colleague of color kept his employment.
CBS reports that a jury ruled race played a role in her dismissal, in violation of anti-discrimination laws.
Starbucks was reached out to for comment.
A federal jury in New Jersey determined that Starbucks violated Ms. Phillips’ federal civil rights and a state law prohibiting racial discrimination, awarding her $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.
In 2018, at a Starbucks location in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square, one of two black males waiting in the store was reportedly denied access to the loo because he had not purchased anything.
Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson claimed they were in attendance for a business meeting and were awaiting someone.
When they refused to leave, employees reportedly summoned the police, who handcuffed them and led them out of the café.
Their arrests were documented on video and shared online, resulting in protests and Starbucks closing all 8,000 of its U.S. locations for a day to conduct anti-bias training for its employees.
CBS claims that regional manager Ms. Phillips was fired but the black store manager kept his job.
In 2019, Ms. Phillips sued Starbucks for wrongful firing and unfairly targeting white employees like herself after the arrests.
Her attorneys argued that Starbucks’s senior management was “looking for a scapegoat to fire to demonstrate that action was being taken.”
