A New Jersey federal judge has ordered Starbucks to pay a former employee who was awarded $25.6 million in a wrongful termination suit an extra $2.7 million in damages.
Shannon Phillips, a former regional director for the chain, sued the coffee giant in 2019, claiming that she was fired for being white.
On Wednesday, Judge Joel Slomsky ordered Starbucks to pay Phillips $2,736,755 in back pay, front pay and tax gross, court documents show.
In this April 15, 2018, file photo, protestors demonstrate outside a Starbucks in Philadelphia. Police arrested two black men who were waiting inside the Starbucks which prompted an apology from the company's CEO. Mark Makela/Getty Images, FILE
The ruling comes after a Camden jury ordered the coffee giant to pay Phillips $25.6 million in settlement money, including punitive and compensatory damages, following a trial in June.
Phillips, 52, claimed in her lawsuit that "her race was a determinative factor" in Starbucks' decision to fire her in the wake of a 2018 racial firestorm.
In April 2018, two Black men -- Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson -- were arrested while waiting for a business meeting after an employee called 911 and accused the men of trespassing after they refused to make a purchase or leave the store. The arrests sparked nationwide protests and prompted Starbucks to close some of its stores for a day for racial bias training.
Less than a month after the arrests, Phillips was notified of her termination, despite claiming that she wasn't at the store that day and was not involved in the arrests in any way.
Phillips, who had been employed by Starbucks for nearly 13 years at the time of her termination, claims she "actively worked" on "crisis management" efforts and "took steps to ensure that the retail locations within her area were a safe and welcoming environment for all customers, regardless of race," according to her 2019 civil complaint.
In a memo opposing economic damages filed last month, Starbucks argued that Phillips “has failed to present any evidence that she could not earn the same (or perhaps even more) in the future and has similarly presented no evidence, beyond her speculation, as to what benefits she may have received had she remained at Starbucks.”
“Further, given that there is no evidence of intentional discrimination, Starbucks requests that this Court award Ms. Phillips no wage loss damages,” the memo continued.
In this Aug. 15, 2018, file photo, protestors demonstrates inside a Center City Starbucks in Philadelphia. Mark Makela/Getty Images, FILE
ABC News has reached out to Starbucks for comment on Wednesday's ruling.
Robinson and Nelson reached a private settlement with Starbucks, as well as with the city of Philadelphia, which vowed in 2018 to pay the men each $1 and promised a $200,000 investment into programs that support aspiring young entrepreneurs, according to the Philadelphia Mayor's Office.
SeanceGoneWrong on August 17th, 2023 at 06:22 UTC »
Full breakdown of the $2.7 million:
$1,053,133 in back pay $1,617,203 in front pay $66,419 toward tax gross-up damagesThe tax damages are meant to compensate her for the tax consequences of receiving a huge 8-figure lump sum award.
The Plaintiff is also pursuing an additional $1.4 million from Starbucks to cover five years worth of legal fees, while the coffee chain is looking for a new trial.
SeanceGoneWrong on August 17th, 2023 at 05:34 UTC »
Shannon Phillips alleged that Starbucks, attempting damage control, began retaliating against white workers after the Rittenhouse Square fiasco. Anyone who remembers this story from 2018 will recall the unhinged mob mentality of demanding a bunch of scalps.
They asked her to suspend a white manager for "discriminatory conduct" which she knew was not true.
She refused to engage in illegal race-based worker retaliation, and was fired for it. The manager of the store where the arrests took place, who promoted the worker who called the cops, is black, and was never reprimanded.
She oversaw 100 stores in her role as regional director and there was no evidence that she fostered a racist work environment or poorly trained subordinates. Her internal record at the company was high marks for her entire tenure.
The coffee chain then claimed the former employee could find work elsewhere for similar or better pay, even though her firing in the aftermath of a racial controversy basically painted her as a racist.
Good riddance. I am glad she won.
sn34kypete on August 17th, 2023 at 04:46 UTC »
sbux: "Well she could just get a new job"
>Lawyers point to multitude of articles naming her directly in her firing.
Sbux basically shouted from the rooftops that they fired a racist white woman at a store she wasn't even working that day to quell racial unrest. Too bad she wasn't also a licensed mechanic, if she was she could've checked the suspension because they threw her under the fucking BUS.