White Starbucks Worker Links Firing to Philadelphia Arrests (1)

Starbucks Corp. is accused in a new lawsuit of firing the white former regional director of its Philadelphia area locations to appease community unrest following the arrests of two black men at a store in the city.

Shannon Phillips’s firing came after she also opposed an order to suspend a white Philadelphia district manager even though, like her, he had nothing to do with the alleged unlawful arrests in April 12, 2018, she says in her complaint.

Suspending the district manager and firing her were part of the steps Starbucks took “to punish white employees” in the weeks following the ...