Starbucks to close all U.S. stores for racial-bias education

Training will occur at all Starbucks company-owned stores and will apply to nearly 175,000 employees. It comes after a growing backlash over the arrests of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks.

Starbucks Coffee Company will be closing its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in stores. The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 employees across the country.

The training course is a response to the public outcry over the arrest of two black men at a Starbucks in Philadelphia on April 12. According to reports, the two men were waiting for a business associate to arrive at the coffee shop and asked to use the toilet. They hadn’t ordered anything, and the staff asked them to leave. When they refused, the Starbucks workers called 911 to report that Starbucks does “not allow nonpaying people from the public to come in and use the restroom,” reports Vox. The arrest went viral through a Twitter video.

“I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it,” said Starbucks ceo Kevin Johnson.

On the afternoon of May 29, all partners and workers will go through a training program designed to address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion andprevent discrimination.