Jurors in federal court in New Jersey have awarded $25.6 million to a former regional Starbucks manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished by the coffee chain after the high-profile arrests of two Black men in 2018 at a Philadelphia location. Jurors in Camden found that race was a determinative factor in the company’s firing of Shannon Phillips and awarded her $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages. Her attorney said the company was looking for a “sacrificial lamb” to calm the outrage. Starbucks declined comment.
