Philadelphia Starbucks Manager No Longer Works at Store Following Controversial Arrest of Black Men
The Starbucks manager whose phone call resulted in two black men getting arrested is no longer at the store, according to the company.
“We can confirm the manager no longer works at that store,” a Starbucks representative told Fortune late Monday afternoon.
The manager called the police Thursday when two men visited the City Center Starbucks in Philadelphia, sat down, and didn’t make a purchase. The manager reportedly asked the men to make a purchase or leave, and the men declined, saying they were waiting until their friend arrived to buy a beverage.
The police officers also reportedly asked the men to leave several times before finally making the arrest, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Their friend arrived as the men were being led out of the building in handcuffs.
A Starbucks spokeswoman told the Inquirer the manager had left the store pending an investigation, correcting a previous description of the separation as “mutual.”
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson formally apologized to the men this weekend, and said that what happened to the two was “reprehensible.”
Two hours in, still roughly 40 protesters here at Starbucks. Some demonstrators have left, but also new faces are arriving, like the person carrying this sign pic.twitter.com/57ckFP1CFa
— Cassie Owens (@cassieowens) April 16, 2018
Protesters gathered at the Philadelphia store Monday, many with signs asking for the manager responsible for the incident to be fired.
No charges were filed against the men.
