(CNN) A former Starbucks regional director has sued the company for wrongful termination, alleging the company discriminated against her in the aftermath of a highly publicized arrest of two black men at a Starbucks store in Philadelphia in April 2018.

Shannon Phillips, who is white, alleges she was fired the following month after 13 years with the company because she opposed placing a white employee on administrative leave for unrelated alleged discriminatory conduct.

That employee had not discriminated, Phillips says, and he was not connected to the store where the two black men were arrested.

"I was terminated because I am white. If I was black, I would not have been terminated. I was terminated because I complained of and objected to race discrimination," Phillips stated in court documents.

Phillips believes Starbucks "took steps to punish white employees who had not been involved in the arrests, but who worked in and around the city of Philadelphia, in an effort to convince the community that it had properly responded to the incident," the lawsuit states.

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