Starbucks has been directed to pay an additional $2.7 million to a former employee who asserts that her termination was based on her being white.
Starbucks has been directed to pay an additional $2.7 million to a former employee who asserts that her termination was based on her being white. Shannon Phillips will receive the $2.7 million to cover her legal fees, in addition to the $25 million she had already been awarded in her wrongful termination lawsuit.
Phillips, who served as a regional manager at Starbucks overseeing multiple locations across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, alleges that her firing was influenced by her race. She initiated legal proceedings against the coffee chain in 2019, a few months after being fired from her job.
The prolonged saga began when two African American men were denied access to a restroom at a Starbucks location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2018. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were informed that the restroom was for paying customers only and since they hadn't made any purchases, they were denied access.
In response, Nelson and Robinson chose to stay in the coffee shop and occupied a table as they waited for a business meeting. This led to their arrest by the police for trespassing, following a 911 call made by an employee, sparking a national controversy centered around racial issues with Starbucks at the center.
The subsequent arrests triggered widespread protests, prompting Starbucks to temporarily close certain outlets for a day to provide racial bias training to its staff.
About a month after these events, Phillips was informed of her dismissal from her 13-year job, even though she wasn't present at the store when the incident occurred and had no involvement in the arrests.
Starbucks cited a vague reason for the termination, stating that "the situation is not recoverable." In her lawsuit, Phillips claimed that she was unfairly made a scapegoat. The complaint alleged that Starbucks "took actions to penalize white employees who had no connection to the arrests but worked in and around Philadelphia, in an attempt to portray a proper response to the incident to the community."
During the trial, it was also revealed, as reported by the New York Post, that another Philadelphia manager, who is of African American descent, was not dismissed.
Following the arrests, Nelson and Robinson reached a private settlement with both Starbucks and the city of Philadelphia.
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 "Starbucks ordered to pay additional $2.7 million to employee fired for being white, details here")
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