The famous coffee shop chain, Starbucks, has been ordered by a federal judge to pay $28.3 million to a former employee, Shannon Phillips.
Coffee Shop Chain Starbucks To Pay Ex-Employee $28.3 Million After Being Fired For Being White|Knewz
Phillips was fired from the coffee shop chain after two Black men were falsely arrested at one of the company’s stores.
Phillips filed a lawsuit against the coffee shop chain for wrongful termination, alleging that her white ethnicity played a role of her dismissal from the coffee shop chain.
Back in 2018, there was an incident at a Philadelphia branch of the coffee shop chain where two Black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were asked to leave from the coffee shop chain after Nelson asked to use the toilet but was denied as he hadn’t bought anything from the coffee shop chain.
The Police were called to the coffee shop chain and detained Nelson and Robinson with the excuse of ‘defiant trespassing’; the incident went viral which spark protests.
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In response to the incident, the coffee shop conducting racial bias training at its outlets.
However, Phillips alleged that she was unjustly fired from the said coffee shop chain for speaking up against the dismissal of a white manager, while a Black manager from the same coffee shop chain retained their position.
Phillips was given $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages by a New Jersey jury. The jury determined that Phillips’ firing was based on race, which goes against federal and state anti-discrimination laws, Fortune reports.
Fortune added that the coffee shop chain has been ordered by U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky to pay $2.73 million in lost compensation and tax damages to Phillips but the coffee shop chain opposed to paying any amount, claiming that Phillips had not provided evidence that she could not have earned equal or more income in the future.
READ MORE|Starbucks has to pay former manager $28.3 million after she was fired for being white
