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Shannon Phillips was fired from Starbucks in 2018, and last week she was given "punitive and compensatory damages" of $25.6 million.
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After a six-day trial, a jury in New Jersey agreed with Phillips that she was fired because she was white. The decision on Phillips was unanimous.
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Phillips was fired after two black businessmen who were waiting for a business partner in a Philadelphia Starbucks in April 2018 were told they couldn't use the bathroom.
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When Phillips wouldn't buy anything, a Starbucks employee (not Phillips) called the police on him for trespassing. Men who were caught.
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Then-CEO of Starbucks apologized to the two guys and said that the company "strongly opposes discrimination and racial profiling." Phillips said that she was fired a few weeks later because of her race.
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According to court documents, Starbucks fired Phillips after the arrests because she "didn't realize how important the situation was for Starbucks and its partners." Phillips said that the reason for the firing was because of his race. There she worked for 13 years.
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In Phillips's lawsuit against Starbucks, a Black district manager said that he thought race was a factor in both her firing and his own hiring by the coffee company.
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The district manager told the court that Phillips was "really supportive," "showed compassion," and was "very, very present" after the event.
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