Deal reached in Starbucks case
Men will accept symbolic $1 each, $200K for young entrepreneurs program
PHILADELPHIA— Two Black men arrested for sitting at a Philadelphia Starbucks without ordering anything settled with the city Wednesday for a symbolic $1 (U.S.) each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. And Starbucks agreed to pay for a college education for them.
The men and their lawyer said the settlement was an effort to make sure something positive came out of the incident.
“We thought long and hard about it and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see,” said Donte Robinson, one of those arrested. “It’s not a right-now thing that’s good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time.”
Later in the day, Starbucks an- nounced it reached a financial settlement with the men. The amount was not disclosed, but the chain said Robinson and Rashon Nelson will be given the opportunity to complete their undergraduate degrees through a Starbucks partnership with Arizona State University. They will be able to earn their bachelor’s degrees with their tuition fully covered.
Also, the two men will be given the opportunity to discuss their experience with former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder as part of the company’s diversity efforts.
The arrest of Nelson and Robinson on April 12 touched off a furor around the U.S. over racial profiling. They were led away in handcuffs and accused of trespassing after the manager called police, saying the men refused to buy anything or leave. After spending hours in jail, they were released and no charges were filed. Their arrest records will be expunged as part of the deal.
The men said they were wait- ing at the coffee shop in the city’s well-to-do Rittenhouse Square neighbourhood for a business meeting with a third man about a potential real estate opportunity.
“I am pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner,” Mayor Jim Kenney said. “This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city and put us under a national spotlight for unwanted reasons.”
The entrepreneur program will be for Philadelphia public high school students.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who is Black, at first defended his officers’ conduct, but days later issued a televised apology for the way the call was handled.
The incident was a major embarrassment for Starbucks, which has long projected an image as a socially conscious company. Three years ago, it was ridiculed for trying to start a conversation on race relations by asking its employees to write “Race Together” on coffee cups.