A New Jersey jury ruled in favor of Shannon Phillips, a former regional manager for Starbucks, who sued the international coffee shop chain for unfairly firing her, claiming she was divorced from the company because she was white.

Phillips, who worked for Starbucks for about thirteen years and managed a retail district nearby, was fired following the arrest of two black men at a Starbucks in Philadelphia in April 2018details CNN.

The men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, said they were there for a business meeting and waiting for someone.

When they refused to leave, according to reports, the staff called the police, who handcuffed them and escorted them out of the cafe. Their arrests were videotaped and shared online, sparking protests and Starbucks closing all of its 8,000 US stores for one day to provide anti-bias training to employees.

The area manager, Phillips, was fired while the manager of the store where the incident took place, who was black, kept his job, according to CBS.

In 2019, Phillips sued Starbucks, accusing them of wrongful dismissal and unfairly punishing white employees like them in response to arrests. His lawyers argued that Starbucks senior management was “looking for a ‘scapegoat’ to fire to show that action was being taken.”

That’s what the New Jersey jury ruled race was a factor in his firing and violated anti-discrimination laws; ruled unanimously in favor of Phillips after a six-day trial, attorneys said.

Also, the jury ruled that the cafeteria must pay the former employee the sum of $25.6 million ($25 million in punitive damages and $600,000 in punitive damages), according to Console Mattiacci Law, who represents . Phillips

The former regional director will also demand payment of overdue wages.