A former Starbucks regional manager who was fired after a Philadelphia location she oversaw refused to let two nonpaying black men use the restroom was awarded over $25 million on Monday.
Shannon Phillips was awarded $25.6 million by a New Jersey federal jury after she won her lawsuit against the Seattle-based coffee giant, according to a report.
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The jury determined she had lost her job because she was white and awarded her $25 million in punitive damages and $600,000 in compensatory damages, the report noted.
Phillips, who oversaw more than 100 locations, first came under fire after a Philadelphia store denied two black men access to the bathroom at a Starbucks in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia.
Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were purportedly waiting for a meeting and wanted to use the location’s facilities.
When they refused to leave after Phillips denied them access, the manager called the authorities, and the pair was taken into custody.
Outrage followed, Phillips and Starbucks were hammered with accusations of racism, and thousands of locations were shut for racial sensitivity training.
Phillips was terminated, and she sued.
She alleged her firing was the product of racial bias and stated that Starbucks was punishing white employees, some of whom had no affiliation with the incident.
Phillips had been ordered to have a white male manager, who worked for Starbucks for 15 years, placed on leave because he had an allegation against him that nonwhite employees at his location were underpaid, according to the report.
The manager had no say in the matter of wages, and he had displayed no evidence of discriminatory behavior, Phillips said.
In comparison, the black manager of the Philadelphia store was not subject to any disciplinary action, the report noted.
Nelson and Robinson reached separate agreements with Starbucks and Philadelphia and, among other things, received an undisclosed sum of money, the offer of free college, and the promise of a $200,000 young entrepreneurs program, the report noted.
Neither man was charged after their arrest.
Immediately after her firing, Phillips faced backlash and has worked “tirelessly” to repair her relationship with her community, according to Laura Mattiacci, Phillips’s attorney.
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Phillips is “very pleased” with Monday’s outcome, Mattiacci said.
CORRECTION: A prior version of this story suggested Philips was in the Philadelphia location at the time of the incident. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
