"Fired for Being White"... Starbucks US Employee Claiming 'Reverse Discrimination' to Receive 32.7 Billion Won Compensation

Starbucks "Work Performance Was Not Good"
Court Rules in Favor of 'Unfairly Dismissed' Employee

A white manager who was fired from Starbucks in the United States five years ago will receive $25.6 million (approximately 32.7 billion KRW) in compensation through a lawsuit. He claimed that he was discriminated against after being fired during the controversy over racial discrimination against Black people and filed a lawsuit.

According to the New York Times on the 14th (local time), a federal jury in New Jersey ruled in favor of Shannon Phillips, a former regional manager for Starbucks in the eastern United States, in a damage compensation lawsuit against Starbucks. Phillips oversaw about 100 Starbucks stores located in Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, and other areas.

Protesters demonstrating against Starbucks' racial discrimination. The photo is not directly related to the article. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The background of his lawsuit against Starbucks is related to a racial discrimination incident that occurred in 2018. At that time, two Black men who had not yet paid for their drinks requested to use the restroom at a Starbucks store in Philadelphia, but an employee refused and reported them for trespassing.

The Black men were waiting for someone for business purposes but were arrested by the police due to the employee's report. The video of the incident spread through social networking services (SNS) and sparked controversy, leading to a boycott of Starbucks among consumers. In particular, residents held one-person protests in front of the store, urging people not to buy coffee there.

As the backlash grew, then Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz personally apologized. Schultz said about the incident, "It was wrong in every way," and apologized, saying, "The company is responsible." He also introduced a policy allowing customers to sit in the store or use the restroom even if they did not purchase a drink.

[Image source=Pixabay]

The problem was that Starbucks allegedly discriminated against white managers in reverse while taking various measures such as employee training to quell criticism at the time.

Starbucks took no action against the Black manager of the Starbucks store who reported the two Black men to the police, but decided to fire white managers at nearby Starbucks stores who were not involved in the incident.

Phillips, the regional manager, claimed he was fired for refusing the order to "fire white managers." He filed a lawsuit against Starbucks in 2019, claiming he was unfairly dismissed because he is white.

However, Starbucks argued that Phillips was fired due to poor job performance. Starbucks stated, "He failed to respond properly when the incident occurred and showed no leadership." Nevertheless, the jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

Meanwhile, it is reported that of the $25.6 million Phillips will receive, $600,000 (approximately 765 million KRW) is for damages, and $25 million (approximately 31.875 billion KRW) is punitive damages.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.