Starbucks will now have open-door bathroom policy after backlash over Black men’s arrest in Philadelphia
Starbucks will have an open-door bathroom policy, a decision that marks one of the first initiatives the restaurant will implement after being widely criticized following the arrest of two black men at its Philadelphia store.
Philly.com reports that Executive chairman Howard Schultz spoke at a Q&A session called “The Role and Responsibility of a Global Company” in Washington on Thursday and said that moving forward the restaurant will work to foster an inclusive environment by giving anyone the bathroom key.
“In terms of the bathroom, we’re going to have to make sure that – we don’t want to become a public bathroom, but we’re going to make the right decision 100 percent of the time and give people the key, because we don’t want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are less than,” Schultz said.
“We want you to be more than.”
Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson settled a lawsuit against Starbucks following their unprovoked arrest while sitting inside last month.
Nelson and Robinson were sitting in a Starbucks waiting for a business associate when a manger decided to call the police on the young men for just sitting there. Video of the two composed, calm gentlemen being put in handcuffs for no reason went viral and nationwide support pushed for a boycott of the coffee chain.
The pair negotiated for the city to fund a $200,000 entrepreneur program for Philadelphia public high school students and took a symbolic $1 each.
“I want to thank Donte and Rashon for their willingness to reconcile,” said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson. “I welcome the opportunity to begin a relationship with them to share learnings and experiences. And Starbucks will continue to take actions that stem from this incident to repair and reaffirm our values and vision for the kind of company we want to be.”
