A federal jury ordered Starbucks to pay $25.6 million to a manager fired for being white.
$600,000 is to be paid in compensatory damages and $25 million is to be paid in punitive damages.
The manager was fired over allegations of discrimination and racism as Starbucks scrambled to protect its diversity and inclusion values.
Reporting from The National Pulse:
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. ... 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.
