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Starbucks Changes Bathroom Policy Following Racial Firestorm

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Starbucks is opening its bathrooms to everyone regardless of whether they've bought anything following the arrest last month of two African-American men at one of its coffee shops in Philadelphia.

Chairman Howard Schultz says he doesn't want the company to become a public bathroom, but feels employees can make the "right decision a hundred percent of the time," if that choice is removed at the store level.

One of the men arrested on April 12 was denied use of a bathroom before sitting down to await a business meeting. He and his business partner were arrested minutes later.

Schultz, speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said Starbucks had a "loose policy" on bathroom use, media outlets reported.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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