Florida believes Starbucks may be violating anti-discrimination law: here’s why

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s top law enforcement official suspects the popular coffee chain Starbucks could be violating state anti-discrimination law over its publicly stated commitments to concepts like “equity, inclusion and diversity.”

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody made an announcement this week, on The Sean Hannity Show guest-hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis, that she filed a complaint against the chain.

The rationale for the complaint is “publicly available policies,” Moody’s office said, including Starbucks’ vows to ensure its corporate positions are fulfilled by at least 30% Black, Indigenous and people of color by 2025.

The chain also wants at least 40% of its retail and manufacturing roles to be composed of those groups by 2025.

“The Starbucks policies described above appear on their face to be racial quotas,” the official complaint states. “They set specific race-based employment targets.”

It addresses the counter-notion that Starbucks’ goals are just that – “goals” – by arguing Starbucks takes it a step further by tying an “executive compensation program” to its diversity efforts.

The complaint cites U.S. Supreme Court case law saying that employers are typically careful in avoiding specifically outlining how it will pursue racial quotas, usually not explicitly but euphemistically.

“In other words, even if Starbucks is claiming these goals are not operating as quotas, that claim should be viewed with significant skepticism,” it says.

In addition to suspicions of a racial quota, Moody’s complaint highlighted Starbucks’ “anti-bias” training.

“According to Starbucks’ own website, one purpose of this training is to convince white employees of Starbucks that they are ‘the problem,'” the complaint states.

Indeed, in 2018, Starbucks highlighted how the then-executive vice president of Starbucks and president of U.S. retail, Rosann Williams, said how because of her “white privilege,” “[she] had to realize that [she is] the problem,” specifically in regard to Starbucks’ diversity trainings.

The complaint was sent to the Florida Commission on Human Relations this week.

Moody called on the body to determine if Starbucks’ actions constitute an “abusive work environment,” as defined in the Florida Civil Rights Act.

“The bottom line is hiring practices using race-based quotas are illegal,” Moody said. “Starbucks has published publicly available policies that raise sufficient concerns that they are using a quota system, and that compensation is tied to that system.”

“This notion that it’s OK to discriminate against some people, not others – you shouldn’t discriminate,” DeSantis said this week.

Florida’s Voice reached out to Starbucks regarding the complaint, but did not receive an immediate response Friday.