Dive Brief:
- Starbucks is facing a lawsuit from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who alleged that the coffee company used DEI to “implement illegal race-based policies for hiring and advancement” in a Wednesday post on X.
- The official complaint, filed Wednesday in Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit Court, stated that Starbucks “excluded or disfavored nonminorities in numerous employment practices and programs.”
- The lawsuit used Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College as its basis and alleged that Starbucks violated the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992.
Dive Insight:
The lawsuit alleges that Starbucks admitted to hiring people based on race to meet hiring quotas, paid employees different wages based on their race and ethnicity and tied executive compensation to race-exclusive mentorship programs and their retention of employees of particular races.
Other DEI practices under fire include Starbucks’ supplier diversity goal and its board of directors’ diversity goal.
The Florida AG office also pointed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in its lawsuit.
One prime example of the EEOC’s current approach to DEI is its “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work” resource. Along with general information about how and where to file a discrimination suit, it noted that “different treatment based on race, sex, or another protected characteristic can be unlawful discrimination,” even if the individual target is not a member of a minority group.
This was one of two technical assistance documents co-released by the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Justice in March regarding what constitutes “unlawful” DEI.
A Starbucks spokesperson told HR Dive that it disagreed with the lawsuit.
“We are deeply committed to creating opportunity for every single one of our partners (employees). Our programs and benefits are open to everyone and lawful,” the spokesperson said via email. “Our hiring practices are inclusive, fair and competitive, and designed to ensure the strongest candidate for every job, every time.”
