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.
About a month after the arrests, Phillips was ordered to suspend one of her subordinates, a white 15-year employee, who was a Starbucks manager but had nothing to do with the arrests or the store where they occurred, the suit says. The manager who was responsible for the store, who is black, was not penalized.
Her bosses told her that nonwhite employees at the store whose manager they wanted her to suspend had been paid less than white employees. Phillips objected, pointing out that store managers have nothing to do with determining salaries, which are set by a different division of the company, according to the lawsuit.
The next day, Phillips was fired, with managers telling her “the situation is not recoverable.”
I hope she cleans up. Fuck Starbucks