TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has sued Starbucks alleging the company uses hiring initiatives that amount to racial discrimination.
“Starbucks made DEI more than a slogan,” Uthmeier said December 10 in announcing the lawsuit filed in the Tenth Judicial Circuit. “They turned it into a mandatory hiring and promotion system based on race.”
Uthmeier
According to the complaint, multiple Florida residents who worked for or tried to apply for jobs at Starbucks contacted Uthmeier’s office starting last year to report concerns about the company’s employment practices.
“Defendant (Starbucks) has implemented employment policies that favor persons belonging to only certain favored races — in other words, defendant has engaged in discrimination against persons belonging to non-favored races — namely, white, Asian, and multiracial people,” the complaint states.
One veteran Starbucks employee claimed the company paid higher wages to people of certain races more than others who had the same experience and skills, according to the complaint.
The complaint says the company began the practice in 2020 when it announced a plant to hire racial minorities in 40 percent of retail positions and 30 percent of corporate jobs by this year. It says the company also created “race-based quotas” for suppliers and its board of directors as well as excluded people of certain races from networking and mentorship opportunities.
“The coffee empire set numerical racial targets for their workforce, and they tied executive bonuses to those targets,” Uthmeier said. “That is brazen discrimination, and it is against the law.”
The lawsuit calls Starbucks’ employment practices “reverse discrimination” and seeks to bar Starbucks from continuing these practices. The complaint also is seeking relief and damages plus civil penalties of $10,000 for each instance of racial discrimination against a Florida resident.
Uthmeier said “tens of millions” of Floridians have been affected at the more than 900 Starbucks stores across the state.
