Reference no: EM132749407

Changing the culture at Starbucks: Racial-Bias Training

• On April 12, 2018, a manager at a Starbucks in Philadelphia called police to arrest two black men in the store. The two men were waiting for a friend to arrive for a business meeting when one of them, before he ordered any food or drink, asked to use the restroom. The white store manager responded by calling 911. Witnesses say that the black men had not done anything to warrant this response. The video of the arrest went viral quickly.

• Both the chief executive officer (CEO) of Starbucks and the chairman met with the two men to publicly apologize for the incident. They also announced that the company would close all 8,000 of its stores on May 29 for racial-bias training designed to prevent discrimination at its locations in the United States. Topics to be included in the training were "implicit bias" and "conscious inclusion." The company reached out to groups such as the Equal Justice Initiative and the NAACP for assistance in designing the antibias training. Starbucks already had policies that prohibit discrimination, but it now plans to add antidiscrimination and antiharassment training to the employee onboarding process in the future.

• Employee reactions to the planned training were mixed. Some employees thought that it was a good move. Some saw it as a public relations stunt. Some questioned how much could be achieved in a few hours. Other employees shared their own experiences of ethnic and racial harassment from customers. Nonwhite employees make up 40 percent of the workforce at Starbucks.

• This latest move by Starbucks to address issues of race follows a 2015 campaign in which the company had invited baristas to write "#Race Together" on cups and have dialogues with customers who asked about it. Many workers were uncomfortable with being assigned this responsibility.

Problem 1: Discuss why Starbucks reacted to this incident as an employee training issue. How does the situation relate to the content of this chapter regarding discrimination?

Problem 2: Is a company responsible for the discriminatory behavior of its customers toward its employees? Could an employee charge the company with discrimination if subjected to harassment by a customer and, if so, under what law?

Problem 3: Research antibias discrimination programs. Use the information that you discover to develop an outline of the content and activities that are considered effective in such training.

Problem 4: Why do you think the 2015 #Race Together campaign failed? Can a company require employees to participate in such an activity? Why or why not?

Problem 5: What other options should Starbucks consider ensuring that future incidents such as the April 12 one do not occur?