Bathrooms free for all: Starbucks

LAST month, two black men who went to a Starbucks in Philadelphia and did not buy anything were denied use of the restroom and asked to leave.

Then an employee called the police and the men were arrested, prompting protests, boycotts and accusations of racism.

Now, Starbucks has changed its policy.

On Saturday the company announced that “any customer is welcome to use Starbucks spaces, including our restrooms, cafes and patios, regardless of whether they make a purchase”.

It added that employees should follow established procedures for “addressing disruptive behaviors”, and call 911 in the case of “immediate danger or threat” to employees or customers.

Previously it might have fallen to store managers to decide whether people could sit or use the restroom without buying anything, the Associated Press reported.

“This is now an established policy for consistency across all of our US company operated stores,” Haley Drage, a Starbucks spokeswoman, said on Sunday.

The men who were arrested in Philadelphia, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were waiting for another man, Andrew Yaffe, who is white, for a business meeting on April 12 when the officers arrived. Their arrest was captured in video footage that has been viewed millions of times on social media.

Starbucks did not press charges and the men were released hours later.