美丽国魔法：被开除白人经理状告星巴克种族歧视，获法官2560万美元赔偿

据媒体周三报道，新泽西一家联邦法院的陪审员向星巴克公司的一位前地区经理判了2560万元的赔偿金。


星巴克前经理香农•菲利普斯（Shannon Phillips）称，她和其他白人员工在2018年在费城的一家星巴克店因两名非裔被逮捕后，受到了不公平的惩罚。周一，菲利普斯赢得了60万元的补偿性赔偿和2500万元的惩罚性赔偿。此前经过5个小时的审议，陪审团认定种族是菲利普斯被解雇的决定性因素，这违反了联邦和州反歧视法。2018年4月，费城一家星巴克的经理报警，称两名非裔男子坐在咖啡店里，没有点任何东西。菲利普斯当时是费城和新泽西南部的业务区域经理，她与逮捕事件本身无关。但根据她的诉讼书，她在不到一个月后失去了工作，因为她反对另一名白人经理在事件后被停职的决定。诉讼称，星巴克采取措施，“惩罚那些没有参与逮捕、但在费城及其周边地区工作的白人员工，以努力让社区相信，星巴克已经对逮捕事件做出了恰当的回应。”菲利普斯的律师劳拉•马蒂奇(Laura Mattiacci)在周五的结案陈词中告诉陪审员，星巴克当时在寻找一只“牺牲羔羊”，以平息公众的愤怒情绪。她说，如果星巴克挑选一名非裔员工解雇，会面临更大的问题。星巴克否认了菲利普斯的指控，称公司需要一个在危机中有“力量和决心”的区域经理应对事件。然而，菲利普斯的律师引用了一名非裔地区经理的证词。该经理负责逮捕发生的门店。他将菲利普斯描述为深受同龄人喜爱的人，并在被捕后夜以继日地工作。在2018年4月的事件中，纳尔逊（Rashon Nelson） 和罗宾逊（Donte Robinson） 在费城附近的一家星巴克咖啡店被捕。事发前，经理报警称两名男子拒绝购买东西也不肯离开门店。他们后来被无罪释放。逮捕视频引起了全美的强烈抗议，并导致星巴克首席执行官亲自向两人道歉。该公司后来与两人达成和解，金额不详，并提供免费大学教育。该公司还更改了门店政策，以进行种族偏见培训。两人还与费城达成协议。费城象征性地给每人支付1元，官员还承诺为年轻企业家设立一个20万元的项目。费城警察局通过了一项关于如何处理被控侵犯私人财产的新政策，并警告企业不要滥用警察的权力。（转载请注明来源美国中文网）


https://posts.careerengine.us/p/648a3612e9eec2472604f34e


Fired for Being White? Starbucks Must Pay $25M to Manager After Racial Controversy


A U.S. District Court jury in Camden, New Jersey, awarded $25.6 million to a white former Starbucks manager who claimed the company engaged in reverse discrimination when it fired her amid protests over the arrests of two Black customers.
Jurors heard Shannon Phillips’ claims that she was fired because the company needed a scapegoat as it faced a public relations crisis over the racially charged incident.


Starbucks came under heavy criticism after a manager at a Philadelphia location called police to report that the two men were sitting down at the cafe without ordering anything.


Following a six-day trial, the jury awarded $300,000 in compensatory damages and $12.5 million in punitive damages on Phillips’ federal civil rights claim and another $300,000 in compensatory and $12.5 million in punitives for violations of New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination.

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Senior U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who presided at the trial, will award lost back pay and future wages, and will consider a fee application at a later date.


The company claimed at trial that Phillips, a regional manager overseeing cafes in parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was fired for being ineffective and absent in the period after the arrests.


But jurors also heard testimony that the employee who called police was complying with a Starbucks policy that applied to cafes in areas with crime problems.


Ongoing Litigation


The jury also heard testimony from a Black Starbucks manager, Paul Sykes, who was the supervisor of the employee who called 911. Sykes said Phillips, who was his boss, was fired because of her race, and he was safe because of his, according to Laura Mattiacci of Console Mattiacci in Moorestown, New Jersey, who represented Phillips.


“Shannon Phillips is very grateful that the jury saw the truth of what happened,” Mattiacci said of the verdict.


Kate Oeltjen and Holly Smith of Mattiacci’s firm assisted her at trial. Starbucks’ lawyer, Richard Harris of Holland & Knight in Philadelphia, said he was not authorized to discuss the case. Starbucks’ communications staff did not respond to a request for comment.


The arrests of the two men brought the company heavy media attention and prompted the one-day shutdown of all its U.S. stores so employees could undergo racial bias training.


The jury of five men and three women found unanimously in Phillips’ favor. It deliberated after Slomsky denied Phillips’ request for sanctions based on Starbucks’ production, on the eve of trial, of a video from a security camera on the day of the two arrests.


Mattiacci requested the video in 2020 but did not receive it until three years later.


In September 2022, Slomsky denied Starbucks’ motion to dismiss, finding that a reasonable jury could conclude that some white employees of the coffee company got unfavorable treatment based on their race.


Mattiacci said she will seek roughly $3 million for past and future lost pay, and roughly $1 million on her fee application, which will include a fee enhancement based on her decision to take a Law Against Discrimination case on contingency.


https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/2023/06/13/fired-for-being-white-starbucks-must-pay-25m-to-manager-after-racial-controversy/

这让我想起了以下这个故事。

一天，加州州长和他的狗在田间小路上慢跑。突然，一条小狼不知从何处窜了出来，并开始攻击州长的狗和州长。州长开始时试图阻止小狼，但随着《小鹿斑比》电影中的镜头从脑海中闪过，他意识到小狼的攻击是其天性，因此没有阻止小狼，最后他的狗被咬死，而他也被咬伤。

他给动物控制中心打了电话。动物控制中心派人捕获了小狼，并给州政府寄了账单，其中疾病检查花费200美元，小狼重新安置支出500美元。州长还叫了兽医，兽医带走了狗的尸体，并要求政府支付200美元疾病检查费。州长去了医院，花费3500美元进行各种防疫检查并包扎了伤口。

这条慢跑道路被封闭6个月，加州渔猎局(California Department of Fish and Game)进行了一项调查，以确保该地区没有其它危险动物，调查开支为10万美元。州长在当地居民中组织了一项“防狼宣传计划”，从州政府基金中拨款5万美元。立法机构制定了一个200万美元的研究项目，目的是如何更好地治疗狂犬病以及如何在世界上根除这种疾病。

州长的保安因为没有及时阻止小狼的攻击而被解雇。加州花费15万美元重新雇用并培训一名新的特工，并让他接受许多特殊培训，比如小狼的天性。善待动物组织(Ethical Treatment of Animals)的人对小狼的重新安置提出抗议，并向加州起诉，要求赔偿500万美元。

fqcotta 发表于 2023-6-14 21:09
这让我想起了以下这个故事。

一天，加州州长和他的狗在田间小路上慢跑。突然，一条小狼不知从何处窜了出来 ...

另一个是德州州长，直接一颗子弹解决问题，3毛钱

星巴克猪八戒照镜子里外不是人

星巴克求仁得仁

我一直对美国公司的开除搞不明白。到底雇主可不可以随意开除员工？比如我们州有Employment at Will法律，似乎就可以随意开除，早上来公司直接就叫你回家。但是员工要是想离职，还必须提前两个星期提出来，感觉权利并不对等。

ZoeyYang 发表于 2023-6-15 16:14
我一直对美国公司的开除搞不明白。到底雇主可不可以随意开除员工？比如我们州有Employment at Will法律，似 ...

两个week是courtesy，不是必须的，比如你要装修，你友好的告诉邻居抱歉未来几天声音会比较大，商量一下几点装修好对他们影响小。

你也可以早上人家睡觉时候就开始锯木头，权利在你。

雇主也一样，如果都是随意开除，那这家名声就不好，基本即使at will给雇主权力这么做，但是实际上操作公司layoff什么的都会给补偿和继续给薪水两个月。

ZoeyYang 发表于 2023-06-15 13:14:49
我一直对美国公司的开除搞不明白。到底雇主可不可以随意开除员工？比如我们州有Employment at Will法律，似乎就可以随意开除，早上来公司直接就叫你回家。但是员工要是想离职，还必须提前两个星期

可以随便开除，除非证明是法律规定的几种歧视之一，这个律师比较牛，证明了是反向种族歧视
PS 地里小伙伴常用的EEOC一般只是拖延时间，但很少赢的（欢迎分享赢了的case造福后人），因为证据都是隐形的很难找，除非对方蠢到在email之类的留下硬证据

chasedream888 发表于 2023-6-15 16:41
两个week是courtesy，不是必须的，比如你要装修，你友好的告诉邻居抱歉未来几天声音会比较大，商量一下几 ...

小公司哪有这种待遇哦，都是干几天开几天的钱。