A former Starbucks regional manager, Shannon Phillips, has been awarded $25.6 million by a federal court jury. Phillips claimed that she and other white employees were unfairly treated following the arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks in 2018.
On Monday, Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.
According to the lawsuit filed by Shannon Phillips, Starbucks was accused of taking steps to “punish white employees” in an attempt to demonstrate a proper response to the incident involving the arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location.
The jury found that race played a role in Phillips’ firing, violating anti-discrimination laws. Phillips lost her job after objecting to the suspension of another white manager, which the lawsuit argued was an attempt by Starbucks to appease the community.
Starbucks denied the allegations, stating they needed a leader with crisis management experience. The arrests of the two Black men sparked nationwide outrage, leading to policy changes and settlements between Starbucks, the men, and the city of Philadelphia.
