A former Starbucks supervisor says the manager who called police on two black men was a controlling boss racist towards both customers and employees.

Ieshaa Cash claimed she was demoted and her pay cut without reason after Holly Hylton took over the Philadelphia Center City store last year.

The 41-year-old said Hylton, 31, was 'uncomfortable' around non-white customers and often targeted them for removal from the store.

Cash spoke out as Howard Schultz, Starbucks executive chairman, told CBS This Morning that he was 'ashamed' at what had happened and said: 'I think what occurred was reprehensible at every single level.'

Ieshaa Cash, 41, claimed she was demoted and her pay cut without reason after Holly Hylton took over the Philadelphia Center City Starbucks last year

The former supervisor says Holly Hylton (right), who called police on two black men on Tursday, was a controlling boss racist towards both customers and employees

Video of the men, who were waiting for a friend, being arrested for 'trespassing' prompted protests and forced the Starbucks chief executive to apologise

Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz, who made it a worldwide name, spoke on Wednesday to CBS This Morning's Gayle King about the incident, calling it 'reprehensible' at every level

The chain is closing every single branch next month for a day of 'implicit bias training'.

Hylton set off the events which sparked outrage last Thursday when she called cops on two black men for 'refusing to make a purchase of leave'. The two were marched out of the store in handcuffs by police.

'Hi, I have two gentlemen at my cafe that are refusing to make a purchase or leave. I'm at the Starbucks at 18th and Spruce,' she said in the 911 call made at 4.37pm last Thursday, which was released by cops on Wednesday.

Video of the men, who were waiting for a friend, being arrested for 'trespassing' prompted protests and forced the Starbucks chief executive and now Schultz, the former CEO who turned it into a worldwide chain, to apologize.

One of the men was Rashon Nelson, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity's Alpha Eta chapter who graduated from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania in 2017.

Cash started working for Starbucks as a shift supervisor in December 2016 and Hylton was hired several months later last spring.

Staff said their new boss was 'controlling, aggressive, and emotional' but Cash said special disdain was reserved for her.

'Holly always looked for things to complain about and was constantly nitpicking about minor things. I could never do anything right to her,' she said.

'One time I ordered an extra sleeve of cups and she went off and gave me a written warning even though we would use them anyway.'

Cash said she was the only black employee at the store besides an assistant manager who was too senior for her boss to 'mess with', and worked opposite shifts to Hylton.

With winter approaching and her patience wearing thin, the mother-of-three decided to transfer to a store closer to home last fall.

She cleared it with the other store and then spoke to her boss, who initially seemed happy to facilitate the move.

The 41-year-old said Holly Hylton, 31, was 'uncomfortable' around non-white customers and often targeted them for removal from the store

Police officers monitor activity outside as protesters demonstrate inside the Starbucks store where the two men were arrested last Thursday

Cash, a part time stand-up comic, claimed Hylton called the police on several people during her time there, and they were always black

However, she said the next day Hylton summoned her to a meeting where she said she was ' not comfortable' with Cash remaining a supervisor.

Instead she would be demoted to a standard barista with a corresponding pay cut and shipped off to a completely different store.

When Cash asked for an explanation she was simply told: 'That's the way I feel.' She said a further explanation was never provided to her.

'I've never been in trouble or disciplined and all the regular customers loved me,' Cash said.

'I think it's because she's racist, she was trying to push me other because she uncomfortable with a black person being there.'

The part-time stand-up comic tried to fight the demotion through district management, but claimed she was ignored and her hours slowly reduced at her new store until she quit last month.

Cash said in the time she was at the 18th and Spruce St store, Hylton seemed uncomfortable around non-white customers and avoided serving them.

'Holly was very attentive with all the white customers, always making sure they were happy and served quickly,' she said.

'But she was cold and standoffish to everyone else and would say "they can wait". She often made the baristas serve them so she wouldn't have to.'

People of all races would frequently come into the store to take advantage of the free wifi, but Cash said her manager often let whites slide.

'She always found a reason to kick black people out, she was way more likely to ask them to leave over white people who hadn't made a purchase,' she said.

'Baristas were usually told to ask them to leave because Holly was so uncomfortable confronting them.'

Cash claimed Hylton called the police on several people during her time there, and they were always black.

She said Hylton's attitude resulted in numerous black regulars defecting to other Starbucks stores.

'Holly was always very careful with what she said, but you could see her racism from the way she acted around people of colour,' Cash said.

In 2014 a former co-worker wrote in a Facebook post that she wished Hylton was still in the store to help her translate for customers who only spoke Spanish.

Hylton replied: 'Ugggghhh I wish I was there! I took an order the other day in Spanish. We only get Chinese, Japanese, or Arabic speakers here. Rude!'

The manager, who did not reply to messages from MailOnline, earlier claimed loitering was an ongoing issue in the Philadelphia Starbucks.

Hylton blamed the incident on what she claimed was a corporate policy at Center City Philadelphia locations which prohibits excessive loitering in their stores

Ms Hylton previously called customers who didn't speak English 'rude' in a Facebook post at a previous fast-food job

Rashon Nelson, one of the two men arrested, is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity's Alpha Eta chapter and graduated from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania in 2017

Rev. Gregory Holston, 56, (2nd R) and other Interfaith clergy leaders stage a sit-in at the Center City Starbucks

She told TechBook on Saturday that one person had even chased her around the shop after she asked them to leave.

Hylton blamed what she claimed was a corporate policy at Center City Philadelphia locations which prohibits excessive loitering in their stores.

She told the news outlet management has the discretion to ensure the policy is enforced - even if that means calling in the cops.

She also revealed that she doesn't even tell the customers when she's calling the police.

Hylton reportedly refused to say whether it was normal practice for managers or employees to call the police when they found customers loitering.

A representative for Starbucks said on Monday that she had left the coffee chain 'while there is an internal review pending.'

Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson arrived in Philadelphia this weekend after activists started protesting at the store.

Johnson met with Nelson and his still-unidentified friend on Monday to apologize to them face-to-face.

He added Starbucks wanted to add training for store managers on 'unconscious bias' after calling the incident 'reprehensible'.

'I'd like to have a dialogue with them and the opportunity to listen to them with compassion and empathy through the experience they went through,' he said.

Johnson said it was 'completely inappropriate to engage the police'.

Starbucks Corp on Tuesday announced it would close 8,000 company-owned U.S. cafes for the afternoon on May 29 to train nearly 175,000 staff on how to prevent racial discrimination in its stores.