Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, accusing the chain of engaging in discriminatory hiring practices.
“Starbucks made DEI more than a slogan,” Uthmeier says in a video announcing the lawsuit. “They turned it into a mandatory hiring promotion system based on race. The coffee empire set numerical racial targets for their workforce, and they tied executive bonuses to those targets. That is brazen discrimination and it is against the law.”
“If a corporation weaponizes [diversity, equity, and inclusion] to impose illegal racial quotas, Florida will hold them accountable,” he added.
A Starbucks spokesperson told News Channel 8, “We disagree. 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. Our hiring practices are inclusive, fair and competitive, and designed to ensure the strongest candidate for every job, every time.“
According to the lawsuit, Starbucks has “excluded or disfavored nonminorities in numerous employment practices and programs.”
“A desire to promote ‘diversity’ does not give Defendant a free pass to discriminate against persons of certain disfavored races (that is, white people, and until last year, multiracial and Asian people),” the filing says. “Doing so violates Florida civil rights law.”
“Defendant has admitted on its website and in various public statements that it: (1) hires applicants because of their race, including by establishing hiring quotas and goals based on race; (2) pays employees different wages because of their race or ethnicity; (3) ties executive compensation to those executives’ participation in mentorship programs open only to persons of certain favored races and those executives’ retention rates of employees who belong to certain favored races; and (4) excludes people of certain races from networking and mentorship opportunities,” it states.
