Starbucks closes for racial-bias training
Starbucks will close more than 8 000 US stores for an afternoon of racialbias training after the arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia branch triggered claims of discrimination.
Almost 175 000 workers will go through training on May 29, the company announced this week, as footage of the arrest made headlines.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologised to the men and said the bias training was just “one step” in the company’s “journey” to improve and understand “what we did wrong”.
Footage of the arrest went viral and prompted a slew of negative headlines for the company.
The two black men had been waiting for a friend when the store manager asked them to leave because they had not bought anything. There are reports that one or both of the men had asked to use the restroom.
The manager, who has since left Starbucks, called the police. The pair were arrested and held for eight hours before being released with no charge.