A former Starbucks regional director is decrying her termination following the wrongful arrests of two Black men that garnered widespread attention last year. 

Shannon Phillips filed a federal lawsuit this week claiming that despite working “tirelessly” to repair community relations as a Starbucks employee, she was fired. She believes she was subject to "reverse racism."

The former coffee shop employee, she was responsible for disciplining the district managers in charge of the Rittenhouse Square location where two Black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were arrested.

In Phillips' suit, she said refused an order from higher-ups to discipline a white district manager for discriminatory conduct. According to her, action should have been taken toward the store's Black district manager who supervisors the employee who called the police on Nelson and Robinson.

“The race discrimination and retaliation because of my complaints of race discrimination to which I have been subjected… has caused me emotional distress,” she stated in an EEOC Charge of Discrimination, which has been included in her lawsuit. 

“I was terminated because I am white. If I was black, I would not have been terminated.”

Phillips, who worked at the company for 13 years, is reportedly seeking an unspecified amount to account for emotional distress, “humiliation,” “mental anguish,” and a loss of earnings and benefits. 

A company spokesman said it is fully prepared to defend itself in court and denies Phillips’ claims in the lawsuit. 

A wave of attention swirled around the cafe chain in April 2018 after Nelson and Robinson were wrongfully arrested for trespassing while at the Starbucks location for a business meeting. According to NBC News, they were later let go after eight hours in police custody. The arrests triggered a swift response from Starbucks which soon after hosted mandatory racial bias training for its employees nationwide.  

Phillips’ lawyer is reportedly asking for a jury trial.