A white former regional manager for Starbucks alleges in a lawsuit that she was a victim of racial discrimination when the coffee giant fired her after the arrests of two black men in a Philadelphia store last year sparked local and national outrage.
In the suit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, Shannon Phillips alleges she was a 13-year employee of Starbucks, overseeing stores in southern New Jersey, the Philadelphia area, Delaware and parts of Maryland, when employees at a Philadelphia store called 911 in April 2018 to say two black men were trespassing.
The men, who an attorney said were at the store for a business meeting, were arrested.
They were eventually let go after about eight hours in police custody, with a district attorney’s spokesman saying there was a “lack of evidence” of a crime.
A viral video of the incident drew national headlines and sparked a wave of protests.