Layoffs for reasons of race or discrimination are unfortunately common, however this case is a bit different. In New Jersey, United States, A jury has ruled that Starbucks will pay a million-dollar sum to a former employee who says she was fired for being white.
This is Shannon Phillips, according to reports CNN, who was a regional director for Starbucks and worked at the company for 13 years. According to the outlet, she was fired after the arrest of two men of color in a Starbucks in Philadelphia, in April 2018.
After a six-day trial, the jury found unanimously, the lawyers said. How much will former employee Shannon be paid? According to the verdict, They are about 25.6 million dollars, including 25 million for punitive damages and 600,000 thousand dollars in compensatory damages. In addition, she will also ask for back and anticipated wages.
The outlet spoke with Starbucks spokeswoman Jaci Anderson, who said the company is disappointed by the decision and is evaluating next steps.
What happened to get her fired for “being white”?
As we said earlier, the entire case dates back to a 2018 arrest of two African-American men inside a Starbucks. First, the men sat at a table and did not order anything, so the employees asked them to leave the cafeteria, which they refused, as they were waiting for a business partner.
However, they were escorted out… in handcuffs, after the manager called the police. Sure, this fact caused protests and outrage, but in the end people reached a settlement agreement with Starbucks and the city of Philadelphia.
However, it was the beginning of the problem for Shannon Phillips. Therefore, she first filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Starbucks saying that the company discriminated against her and that she was fired for being white.
What do the two things have to do? The lawsuit said that following the arrest of the two men, Starbucks “took steps to punish white employees who were not involved in the arrests, but who worked in and around the city of Philadelphia, in an effort to convince the community that they had responded appropriately to the incident.”
So when Phillips was overseeing some areas that included Philadelphia, he said that Starbucks had ordered him to place a white employee on administrative leave as part of those efforts, this due to alleged discriminatory conduct. But, the former employee knew those accusations were inaccurate, and after trying to defend him, the company fired her, she explained in 2019.
Finally, the reason for dismissal, according to the complaint, was that “the situation is not recoverable.” Furthermore, Phillips argued in the petition that this was only “a pretext for racial discrimination”.
What Starbucks says about being “fired for being white”
For its part, Starbucks denied the claims at the time, saying that after the incident “senior management and members of Associated Resources noted that Ms. Phillips demonstrated a complete lack of leadership during this crisis.” Also, they argued that she “She seemed overwhelmed and was unaware of how critical the situation had become.”
With all the data presented, what do you think? Was it a well made decision? What was Starbucks to do in this case?
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.