American media write that the woman, who was a regional manager, was fired after an incident in 2018. In one of the coffee shops she was in charge of, two black men in their 20s were discriminated against. The men had a work appointment at the Starbucks location in Philadelphia and were waiting for the third man to order, writes CBS News.
Handcuffs
One of them wanted to go to the toilet, but he couldn’t because he hadn’t ordered anything yet. Then a Starbucks employee asked both men if they could help them with anything. The men explained that they were waiting for a third person, after which the police were called. They were taken away in handcuffs.
The incident, which was filmed and the images of which were quickly circulated, caused a lot of anger. Protests ensued and Starbucks closed all stores for a day to allow employees to undergo anti-discrimination training.
Shannon Phillips, who was a regional manager and had several cases under his belt, was fired. But the manager of the branch where the incident had taken place, a black man, was allowed to stay. The woman filed a lawsuit, in which her lawyer argued that the company had sought a “scapegoat” to show that it was serious about the matter.
‘Not a strong leader’
Starbucks countered by saying the company needed a strong leader at the time, and Phillips was “overwhelmed and not sufficiently aware of the situation.”
A jury concluded that the woman was right. She will receive $600,000 in compensation for lost earnings and $25 million in damages because Starbucks violated her human rights because of the racial discrimination.
2023-06-14 19:29:15
#Starbucks #fires #woman #white #million #damages
