Starbucks ordered to pay $25.6mn in damages over alleged racial firing

Starbucks

The company denied in court filings that Phillips’ race had anything to do with her firing

Specialty coffee retailer Starbucks has been reportedly ordered to pay $25.6 million in damages to a former regional director who was allegedly fired over racial grounds.

The former employee sued the company in the wake of a controversy that saw two Black men arrested while sitting at a coffee shop.

The director, who disagreed with Starbucks’ handling of the issue that triggered a nationwide discussion on race, had claimed in a lawsuit that she was fired because she was white, media reports said.

Shannon Phillips said in the lawsuit, filed in 2019, that her firing came in the wake of a 2018 viral video that sparked outrage and accusations of racism against Starbucks and against the employees of the Philadelphia store where the video took place.

A jury in US District Court in New Jersey found on Monday that Starbucks discriminated against Phillips by firing her, which she claimed happened at least in part because she was a white woman.

In the original complaint filed in 2019, Phillips said she worked her way up from being hired as a district manager in Ohio in 2005 to being promoted to a regional director overseeing about 100 stores in 2011.

The coffee chain denied in court filings that Phillips’ race had anything to do with her firing, and said she failed in doing her job and understanding how serious the situation was as Starbucks was facing intense criticism, Business Insider reported.

A company spokesperson declined to comment on the verdict when reached by Insider, but told CNN it was “evaluating its next steps.”

The 2018 incident, captured on video, showed two Black men who said they were waiting for a third person in a Philadelphia Starbucks. One of the men eventually asked to use the restroom and was denied. Employees said they cited company policy that restrooms were for paying customers only.

The men were at one point asked to leave, employees said, and an employee ended up calling the police on them after they refused — accusing the pair of trespassing.

The men were arrested, but the company did not end up pressing charges.

The incident drew outrage as the employees were accused of discriminating against the men, and led to apologies from the company and then-CEO Kevin Johnson.

They eventually settled a lawsuit against Starbucks and the city, but it wasn’t the only legal action the company faced in the wake of the viral moment.