The state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, accusing the coffee giant of leveraging its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a façade for systematic discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation, Reuters reports.
The complaint, submitted on Tuesday in federal court in St. Louis, alleges that Starbucks has linked executive compensation to meeting specific racial and gender-based hiring quotas. It also claims that the company has preferentially selected certain groups for additional training and job advancement opportunities while employing a quota system to ensure diversity within its board of directors.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey stated that “all of this is unlawful” and infringes upon both federal and state civil rights laws. Bailey, a Republican, further asserted that the state’s consumers face higher prices and longer wait times at Starbucks locations due to the company’s alleged practice of not hiring the most qualified individuals.
In response to the allegations, Starbucks issued a statement contesting the claims made by the attorney general. “We disagree with the attorney general and these allegations are inaccurate,” the company asserted, emphasizing its commitment to providing opportunities for all employees and stating that its programs and benefits are open to everyone in compliance with the law.
This lawsuit comes amid a broader national trend, with President Donald Trump, also a Republican, advocating against DEI initiatives both within the government and in corporate America. Following this stance, several major corporations have either ended or significantly reduced their diversity programs. Notably, Goldman Sachs recently rescinded a policy requiring companies to have two diverse board members when going public, while Google discontinued diversity-based hiring targets and Amazon removed references to inclusion from its annual report.
Missouri’s lawsuit specifically challenges Starbucks’ diversity practices that have been in place since 2020, a period marked by national protests following the murder of George Floyd, which prompted many companies to reevaluate their employment strategies. The lawsuit highlights prior comments from Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol, suggesting that his previous support for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals at Chipotle indicates a continuation of these alleged practices.
Starbucks, which employs approximately 211,000 individuals in the US and 361,000 globally, faces significant legal scrutiny with this case. In August 2023, a federal judge in Spokane, Washington dismissed a shareholder lawsuit questioning Starbucks’ diversity policies, ruling that such public policy issues are best determined by legislative bodies and corporations rather than courts.
The Missouri lawsuit seeks to compel Starbucks to cease practices that allegedly discriminate based on race, gender, and national origin, to rehire affected employees, and to pay unspecified damages. The case is officially titled Missouri ex rel Bailey v. Starbucks Corp, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri under case number 25-00165.
