\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFlorida’s Attorney General is suing Starbucks, which has more than 900 locations in the state, claiming the company violated state civil rights law through race-based employment practices tied to its diversity initiatives.According to a complaint filed by the office of Attorney General James Uthmeier in Highlands County Circuit Court, Starbucks implemented hiring quotas, paid employees differently based on race, and linked executive bonuses to race-based diversity goals.The lawsuit alleges that over the past five years, Starbucks created and maintained employment policies that prioritized applicants and employees based on race and ethnicity.Uthmeier\u2019s office claims the company\u2019s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs led to \u201cdisfavored races\u201d being excluded from opportunities or paid less than others with similar qualifications.The 21-page complaint cites Starbucks\u2019 own public disclosures, including goals for increasing the percentage of \u201cpeople of color\u201d in corporate roles, mentoring programs limited to specific racial groups, and executive compensation plans linked to diversity retention metrics.The state argues that such practices violate the Florida Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment decisions based on race or ethnicity.While the company\u2019s DEI policies aimed to increase representation and equity, the complaint says these efforts unlawfully discriminated against white, Asian and multiracial employees or applicants.The lawsuit requests a jury trial and seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. With 934 stores operating in Florida as of July, the attorney general\u2019s office said the total could amount to tens of millions of dollars.The complaint also notes that Starbucks previously faced a federal jury verdict awarding a former employee $25.6 million in a racial discrimination case in 2023.Starbucks has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit. The company has emphasized in past reports that its DEI policies are aimed at creating an inclusive and equitable workplace.DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tFORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Florida’s Attorney General is suing Starbucks, which has more than 900 locations in the state, claiming the company violated state civil rights law through race-based employment practices tied to its diversity initiatives.<\/p>\n
According to a complaint filed<\/a> by the office of Attorney General James Uthmeier in Highlands County Circuit Court, Starbucks implemented hiring quotas, paid employees differently based on race, and linked executive bonuses to race-based diversity goals.<\/p>\n The lawsuit alleges that over the past five years, Starbucks created and maintained employment policies that prioritized applicants and employees based on race and ethnicity.<\/p>\n Uthmeier\u2019s office claims the company\u2019s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs led to \u201cdisfavored races\u201d being excluded from opportunities or paid less than others with similar qualifications.<\/p>\n The 21-page complaint cites Starbucks\u2019 own public disclosures, including goals for increasing the percentage of \u201cpeople of color\u201d in corporate roles, mentoring programs limited to specific racial groups, and executive compensation plans linked to diversity retention metrics.<\/p>\n The state argues that such practices violate the Florida Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment decisions based on race or ethnicity.<\/p>\n While the company\u2019s DEI policies aimed to increase representation and equity, the complaint says these efforts unlawfully discriminated against white, Asian and multiracial employees or applicants.<\/p>\n The lawsuit requests a jury trial and seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. With 934 stores operating in Florida as of July, the attorney general\u2019s office said the total could amount to tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n The complaint also notes that Starbucks previously faced a federal jury verdict awarding a former employee $25.6 million in a racial discrimination case in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n Starbucks has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit. The company has emphasized in past reports that its DEI policies are aimed at creating an inclusive and equitable workplace.<\/p>\n DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida’s Attorney General is suing Starbucks, which has more than 900 locations in the state, claiming the company…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8232,4626,6511,4151,44829,9750,24297,44828,28,30,29,213,833,660,12667,21133,44827],"class_list":["post-80342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-attorney-general","tag-company","tag-complaint","tag-dei","tag-diversity-initiative","tag-employee","tag-equity","tag-ethnicity","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-late-news","tag-lawsuit","tag-office","tag-race","tag-starbucks","tag-white-worker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}