Starbucks to pay $2.7 million in lost wages to former manager over racism row

After a former regional manager claimed she and other white employees were unfairly punished following the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a store in 2018, a judge ordered Starbucks to pay an additional $2.7 million in lost wages and tax damages to the employee. The employee had previously been awarded more than $25 million.

In June, Shannon Phillips was awarded $25 million in punitive damages and $600,000 in compensatory damages after a New Jersey jury determined that Phillips' termination was motivated by race, in violation of both federal and state anti-discrimination statutes.

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According to case records, a US district judge on Wednesday ordered Starbucks to pay Phillips an additional $2.73 million in past and future lost wages and benefits in addition to compensation for tax disadvantages resulting from the lump amount. Because Philipps had not demonstrated that she would not have been able to earn the same or more in the future, the corporation refused to pay any compensation.

In April 2018, a Starbucks store manager in Philadelphia dialled 911 to report two Black males who were loitering in the coffee shop without placing an order. Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson were eventually let go without being charged.

The regional manager of operations at the time, Phillips, was not involved in any arrests that took place in Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, or elsewhere. She said, however, that she was required to place a white manager who was also unrelated on administrative leave for justifications she knew to be untrue.