Lane Goodrich

OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet
Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

In 2018, two African-American men were arrested at a Starbucks location in

Philadelphia. These two men were meeting with another friend to talk about their

business. One of the gentlemen asked to use the bathroom, to which the manager of the

store told them they have to buy something or leave. The police were called and arrested

the two gentlemen. This caused an outcry from the nation and Starbucks responded by

mandating racial-equity training for every employee in the United States. My role in the

situation is an internal one as a shift supervisor.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

The human resources influenced the situation in a few ways. For starters, they launched

an investigation into the situation. Through the investigation, they proceeded to fire the

regional manager of that Starbucks. While it’s not completely known what happened to

the store manager of that location, there is information on the regional manager being

fired. The now former manager claims she was fired because “She’s white” (Fiorillo,

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2023). As she put it, “in an effort to convince the community that it had properly

responded to the incident” (Press, 2023). The human resources recommended the change

in order to save face.

Another way human resources influenced the situation was through their decision to do

racial-equity training. The human resources department had to be in a really bad position

when all this occurred, so they had to not only say their sorry, but try their best to make

sure it didn’t happen again. Their hope was that in doing this training, it would help all

the partners to understand each other, and also how to handle a situation similar to this in

the future.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

For me, I believe there’s a few alternative courses the human resources could’ve done in

regards to this case. For starters, I think I would’ve used both an internal and external

source for an investigation. This would allow us to get multiple accounts. I would also

go to a plethora of partners and customers in order to gain their feedback on the situation.

From there, we can determine the best course of action. I would also look to shut down

that Philadelphia location for a little bit, as it could potentially move protesters away.

Looking at managers, I would definitely talk to all managers involved with the store and

either put them on leave or terminate them. While I understand termination is a bit of a

reach, it feels like the best recommendation in order to subdue the outcry that’s coming

our way both internally and externally.

I would also recommend that human resources conduct more training than just the one

day. I feel like shutting down stores for multiple days is a good way to not only show

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sympathy, but also allow for more discussions amongst partners. Along with this,

pledging minority-driven communities a sum of money to help with black-owned

businesses would be a good idea too. This would also show our desire to make amends.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

I feel like this is a tricky frame as to what I would do or not do differently. On one hand,

I feel as though Starbucks’ human resources handled this situation pretty well. There was

not a way to appease everyone here, so you basically had to pick a side. They chose to

pick the side of the victims, which I agree with. Starbucks doesn’t need people in their

company that are bigits. However, to fire the regional manager because they didn’t make

a decision immediately is a bit of a stretch. While I agree with it, I also think it should’ve

taken more time.

When I reflect on this situation from a human resource perspective, I cannot imagine the

stress they were under at this time. Racial topics are always a tough thing, but especially

with how this situation played out, it put Starbucks in a very tough position. There was

no real way to resolve this issue. They basically had to play the damage control game, to

which I feel like they did a good job of.

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References

Fiorillo, V. (2023, June 14). Philly Today: White Starbucks Manager Wins $25 Million In

Lawsuit. Philadelphia Magazine.

https://www.phillymag.com/news/2023/06/14/starbucks-lawsuit-philadelphia-racism/

Press, A. (2023, June 15). Ex-Starbucks manager awarded $25.6 million in case tied to arrests

of 2 Black men. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/06/15/1182359923/ex-starbucks-

manager-awarded-25-6-million-in-case-tied-to-arrests-of-2-black-men