Jeff Cary

OGL 481
Choosing an Organization and Situation

A description of the organization;

The organization I have selected is one that many people here at ASU are all too familiar

with which is Starbucks Coffee company. Starbucks is a worldwide retailer of coffee, beverages,

and food in a fast service retail environment. Started in Seattle Washington, Starbucks has

grown to have more than twenty thousand locations across the globe in almost every community

imaginable. Known for being a company that delivers premium products for the consumer along

with great customer service and interactions. Starbucks location become a third-place home for

millions of customers everyday becoming a place that people spend time where they feel like

they belong.

Your role in the organization (it can be an internal or external role;

At the time of the event I was employed by Starbucks as a Licensed stores district

manager covering south central Pennsylvania.

A description of the situation, including information you think the will help the reader
understand the most important elements of the situation.
On April 12, 2018 two African American men were arrested in the café of a Starbucks

location in Philadelphia. The two men were arrested and physically removed from the store for

loitering and being in the café without making a purchase. The store manager working that day

called the police saying they were loitering when “the men said they were waiting at the coffee

shop in the city's well-to-do Rittenhouse Square neighborhood for a business meeting with a

third man about a potential real estate opportunity.” (Whack, 2018) This event sparked outrage
due to the men being target for alleged racism and the nationwide uproar started causing the

event to spread across almost every media outlet the same day.

Sources
Whack, E. H. (2018, May 3). Black men arrested at Starbucks settle with Philadelphia for $1
each, plus $200K for youth. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/05/02/black-men-arrested-starbucks-settle-
philadelphia-entrepreneurs/573470002/