Premiere on Fox—— Florida Attorney General James Usmeier announced Wednesday that he is suing Starbucks, accusing the company of using racial discrimination and illegal hiring quotas.
“I am announcing that my office is suing Starbucks for its use of DEI policies that violate illegal, race-based quotas,” Usmeier said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
Starbucks said its “diversity representation goal” by 2020 is to “hire ‘people of color’ in 40 percent of retail and distribution center positions and 30 percent of corporate positions by 2025,” according to the lawsuit.
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Florida Attorney General James Usmeier announced Wednesday that he is suing Starbucks over alleged racial hiring quotas.
It also claims that Starbucks “pays employees of certain favored races higher wages than employees of disfavored races with the same experience and skills” and that until March 2024, the company “publicly set executive bonuses based on the executive’s ability to achieve certain diversity, equity and inclusion goals.”
For example, in fiscal year 2024, executive bonuses were allegedly tied to mentoring BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) mentees, which includes leading monthly group meetings with mentees and monthly meetings with individual mentees, as well as retaining BIPOC employees.
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According to the lawsuit, executives must maintain a BIPOC retention rate above 87% to receive at least half of their bonuses.
The complaint also alleges that people living in Florida who applied to work at or already worked at Starbucks stores in the state “contacted the attorney general last year and reported that they felt or were excluded or even humiliated because they were white.”
The lawsuit also claims that Starbucks engages in “systemic discrimination” against “non-diverse” employees.
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The lawsuit also alleges that people who applied to work at or have worked at Starbucks stores in Florida “contacted the attorney general last year and reported that they felt or were excluded or even humiliated because they were white.”
“Starbucks makes DEI more than just a slogan,” Uthmeier said. “They turned it into a mandatory hiring and promotion system based on race. The coffee empire set racial numerical goals for their employees — and they tied executive bonuses to achieving those goals. That’s not diversity. It’s discrimination, and in the state of Florida, it’s illegal.”
litigation efforts Starting in 2024 Under the leadership of then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, now Florida Republican Senator Ashley Moody.
“DEI can never be an excuse to violate someone’s civil rights,” Usmeier said. “Every worker in our state should be hired based on merit, qualifications and character — not color. Florida law protects this principle, and we will enforce it. If a company weaponizes DEI to enforce illegal racial quotas, Florida will hold them accountable.”
Usmeier is seeking $10,000 in damages “for each incident of racial discrimination that Starbucks is committing or has committed against a Florida resident,” with the attorney general estimating the total damages could be “tens of millions of dollars or more.”
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The lawsuit was launched in 2024 under the leadership of former Florida Attorney General and current U.S. Senator Ashley Moody.
Starbucks has more than 900 stores in Florida, the lawsuit said.
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“We disagree. We are deeply committed to creating opportunity for every partner (employee). Our programs and benefits are open and legal to everyone. Our hiring practices are inclusive, fair and competitive and designed to ensure we find the best candidate for every job every time,” a Starbucks spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Last year, the Florida Human Relations Commission found “no reasonable cause” that Starbucks violated anti-discrimination laws after then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a complaint.
Original source of the article: Florida AG sues Starbucks over ‘systemic discrimination’, says employees were punished for being white