Starbucks To Close More Than 8,000 Stores For Racial-Bias Education
(CBS) – Starbucks says it will close more than 8,000 U.S. stores for several hours next month to conduct racial-bias training to its nearly 175,000 workers.
The announcement comes after two black men were arrested in a Center City Starbucks store, sparking protest and calls for a boycott on social media.
Starbucks Corp. says the stores will be closed on the afternoon on May 29. Its corporate offices will also be closed at that time.
This comes after another incident of alleged racial bias at Starbucks, stirring new outrage. A black man claims he was denied access to a bathroom at a Los Angeles store, even though a white man was given the entry code. Neither were paying customers.
The incident in Los Angeles, along with the one in Philadelphia last week, has left Starbucks struggling with accusations of racism from coast to coast. Both events appear to have started when Starbucks employees refused to let black men use their store bathrooms.
Click here to read more on the incident of alleged racial bias.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
