A Starbucks regional manager won a $25.6 million verdict Friday after she accused the corporation of firing her for being White in response to a national backlash over the arrest of two Black men at one of its Philadelphia cafes.
A New Jersey federal jury decided in favor of Shannon Phillips, who sued Starbucks in 2019 over allegations of racial bias and discrimination, according to court filings.
It took the eight-member panel nearly five hours to award $25 million in punitive damages and $600,000 in compensatory damages to Phillips, determining that her skin color played a decisive role in her termination.
Phillips, who worked for Starbucks for 13 years and oversaw roughly 100 cafes, was fired less than a month after Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson were arrested at a Spruce Street store on April 12, 2018, for refusing to leave a table.
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The incident, captured on cellphone video, quickly went viral and Starbucks faced intense scrutiny for the treatment of the Black men, who said they were waiting for a business associate and hadn't ordered anything when a manager called the Philadelphia police on them. Phillips was not present.
To quell the racial firestorm, the chain apologized and closed 8,000 U.S. stores early for racial bias training.
Attorney Laura Mattiacci told jurors in closing arguments during the civil trial that began June 5 that the company was looking for a "sacrificial lamb" to show it was taking action after the arrests, Law360 reported.
She reminded jurors of the testimony of district manager Paul Sykes, who is Black and reported to Phillips.
He said she was beloved by her colleagues and that her termination, which came out of the blue, was likely due to the color of her skin.
"This was all about the appearances, the optics of what they did," Mattiacci said, according to Law360. "If Shannon Phillips is Black, does it play out like this? This case is about Starbucks and self-preservation."
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Starbucks attorney Richard Harris countered that Phillips lacked the necessary leadership skills needed at the time of the crisis and that she had been replaced with a White regional director.
"A peacetime leader is very different from a wartime leader. These were turbulent times. Starbucks needed someone to show strength and resolution," Harris told the panel.
Robinson and Nelson reached an undisclosed financial settlement with Starbucks about three weeks after their arrests.
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Mattiacci and a Starbucks spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
