Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson announced Monday that the company will add training for managers on "unconscious bias," following the arrest of two black men at a store in Philadelphia.
Last Thursday, an employee called the police, saying the men were trespassing. The men reportedly asked to use the restroom, and when they were told they couldn't because they hadn't purchased anything, they refused to leave. Video of the incident shows police speaking to the men and finally handcuffing them as customers said the men didn't do anything wrong. A man, identified as real estate developer Andrew Yaffe, then walked up and said the men were waiting for him, but officers responded that the men were not complying and were under arrest for trespassing.
"Why would they be asked to leave?" Yaffe asked. "Does anybody else think this is ridiculous? It's absolute discrimination." The men were released after the district attorney's office said there was not enough evidence showing a crime had been committed. Johnson called the entire incident "reprehensible," and said he wants to meet with the men soon to personally apologize. "I'd like to have a dialogue with them and the opportunity to listen to them with compassion and empathy through the experience they went through," he added.
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