Starbucks Ordered to Pay Former Manager Additional $2.7M Over Racism Case

Starbucks Corporation will have to shell out more cash after a court orders it to pay a former regional manager an additional $2.7 million or €2.5 million. The payout is in connection with a racism case for an incident that took place in 2018.

Starbucks must compensate the said manager after she was fired due to the arrest of two Black men while in the store. The court said that the amount is for the lost wages and tax damages.

This was the same regional manager who was already awarded more than $25 million earlier. This compensation was given, claiming that she and other white staff were illegally punished by Starbucks’ management after the high-profile arrests of two Black men who were at the store five years ago.

According to Associated Press News, Shannon Phillips already won $25 million in punitive damages in addition to $600,000 in compensatory damages in June this year. These were handed down to her after a jury in New Jersey determined that race was a factor that contributed to the decision to fire Phillips. This move is apparently a violation of the federal and states anti-discrimination laws.

In the latest development, the judge ordered Starbucks to pay another $2.73 million for Phillip’s past and future lost earnings plus benefits. As stated in the court documents, this will also serve as compensation for tax disadvantages due to the lump sum.

At any rate, it was reported that Starbucks has been refusing to pay any amount and challenging the verdict. The coffee chain said that the former regional manager that managed business operations in Philadelphia had not proven that she could not have earned the same amount, or more, in the future, as per RTE News.

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