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 coffee shop. Law360 reports that jurors in Camden deliberated for nearly five hours before deciding Monday that race was a determinative factor in the company’s firing of Shannon Phillips and awarding her $600,000 in compensatory and $25 million in punitive damages. Her attorney said the company was looking for a “sacrificial lamb” to calm the outrage. Starbucks declined comment.
