A New Jersey federal judge has ordered Starbucks to pay a former employee who was awarded $25.6 million in a wrongful termination suit an extra $2.7 million in damages. Shannon Phillips, a former regional director for the chain, sued the coffee giant in 2019, claiming that she was fired for being white. On Wednesday, August 17, 2023, Judge Joel Slomsky ordered Starbucks to pay Phillips $2,736,755 in back pay, front pay and tax gross, court documents show. The ruling comes after a Camden jury ordered the coffee giant to pay Phillips $25.6 million in settlement money, including punitive and compensatory damages, following a trial in June. Phillips, 52, claimed in her lawsuit that "her race was a determinative factor" in Starbucks' decision to fire her in the wake of a 2018 racial firestorm. Read more...
