Last month, a Philadelphia Starbucks made headlines when two black men were apprehended for sitting and waiting for a friend.
According to reports, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were in the Starbucks waiting for a friend of theirs to arrive for a business meeting, however, decided to wait on ordering anything. The manager of the Starbucks asked both men to leave because they had not ordered anything. The manager later called the police, and the two were escorted out of the coffee chain–which was caught on video.
Luckily, the two were meeting a predominant businessman and friend, who had close relationships with lawyers–who worked hard for both men to seek justice. The situation swiftly blew up on social media, as many pledged to “boycott Starbucks” for the horrifying incident.
Now, both Nelson and Robinson have settled with Philadelphia for a whopping $1 each–but, having officials pledge to set up and fund $200,000 towards a program for young entrepreneurs–much like Nelson and Robinson themselves.
In a statement, Robinson said:
“We thought long and hard about it and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see. It’s not a right-now thing that’s good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time.”
The program, which will be headed by the city’s mayor, will be for students in Philadelphia public high schools. The mayor was impressed how much both men wanted to work with the city to bring forth a positive change.
Starbucks Chief Executive Kevin Johnson has issued a statement of apology to both Nelson and Robinson for the incident and has announced that on May 29, more than 8,000 Starbucks will close in the afternoon for training to prevent this situation from ever occurring again.