A federal jury has ordered Starbucks to pay $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages to a district manager who was fired for being white.
Shannon Phillips was caught up in the furore that followed the arrest of two black men at a Starbucks in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, who had refused to leave after taking up a table and using the restroom without paying for anything.
The incident went viral on social media, with Starbucks scrambling to burnish its diversity and inclusion credentials amid accusations of racism. Shannon’s lawsuit alleged that a crackdown on white employees, often without justification, formed part of this response.
Phillips was asked to suspend a white Philadelphia area manager due to allegations of discrimination, while the black manager of the Rittenhouse Square coffee shop at the heart of the “crisis” went unpunished. Phillips hesitated to suspend the white manager, as the allegations against him were false, resulting in her own dismissal.
Now, a federal jury has unanimously concluded that she was fired for being white, violating federal civil rights laws and state laws prohibiting racial discrimination.