Florida sues Starbucks for $100 billion over DEI

C. A. Bridges

USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Wednesday, Dec. 10, filed a lawsuit accusing Starbucks Coffee Co. of favoring minorities in hiring and pay in violation of a state civil-rights law. The state is seeking in excess of $100 billion in civil penalties, plus damages.

'Starbucks made DEI more than a slogan,' Uthmeier said in a post on X. 'They turned it into a mandatory hiring and 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 brave and discrimination, and it is against the law.

'DEI can never be an excuse to violate someone’s civil rights,' he said.

DEI refers to diversity, equity and inclusion programs that seek to encourage fairer representation and participation for groups that have been historically and systematically marginalized. Critics have accused those practices of being biased against White people.

Starbucks has denied the allegations, saying their programs and benefits were 'open to everyone and lawful.'

Why is Florida suing Starbucks?

Uthmeier’s 21-page lawsuit accuses the coffee shop behemoth of intentionally discriminating against 'non-favored races,' defined as White, Asian and multiracial people, for the past five years with what it calls racial quotas and goals for hiring.

'Defendant’s racist employment actions have caused significant financial losses and damages to Florida residents,' the suit says, blocking a 'a vast number of Florida residents' from employment and causing others to be fired, denied promotions, paid at a reduced rate of compensation, denied bonuses, and denied opportunities for mentorship and networking because of their race.'

The lawsuit also accuses the Seattle-based company of paying different employees different wages based on race, tying executive compensation to participation in quotas and race-based mentorship programs, and of excluding 'disfavored' races from mentorship and networking programs.

How much is Florida demanding?

The lawsuit demands that Starbucks end all DEI practices immediately and pay civil penalties for each instance of racial discrimination in the 934 Starbucks locations in the state, 'which the Attorney General currently estimates amounts to at least in the tens of millions, if not more.'

Florida Statute 760.021 allows the Attorney General to sue for up to $10,000 per violation of the state’s anti-discrimination laws. That would come out to a minimum of $100 billion dollars, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit also calls for affirmative relief and compensatory damages for 'mental anguish, loss of dignity, and other intangible injuries.'

The lawsuit did not name any specific people who had been damaged by the company’s practices or which employees may have been hired or promoted solely based on race, only saying that unnamed Florida residents have contacted the Attorney General’s Office to report race-based practices that caused them harm and humility.

Starbucks sued for racial discrimination before

In 2023, the coffee shop chain was ordered to pay $28.3 million in a wrongful termination suit brought by Shannon Phillips, a former regional director for the chain, who claimed she was fired for being White.

Philips was fired after a 2018 incident in one of her stores when two Black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks while waiting for a business meeting. When approached, they declined help. Moments later, police arrived and arrested them, and the video of the arrest kicked off a nationwide furor and protests over racial profiling.

The men were released later without charges. The CEO of Starbucks apologized, the company reached an undisclosed settlement with the men, and an open-door policy was put into effect to allow people to hang out without buying anything. That policy was changed back in January to prioritize customers, the company said.

Phillips said she was fired less than a month after the arrests although she wasn’t in the store that day.

What does Starbucks say about the lawsuit?

In a statement, Starbucks refuted the claims.

'We disagree,' the company told different media outlets through a spokesperson. '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.'

In an earlier case filed last year at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, which the state dismissed with an indication it would follow up in state or federal court, the company pointed out that the state failed to prove damages from their practices.

The company said in a document that the state did not 'identify any person in Florida who should be awarded the unspecified monetary relief sought by the OAG (Office of the Attorney General), nor does it identify any injury to such person – for example, an adverse employment action against the individual or a comparator to raise an inference that such action was motivated by discrimination.

'Instead, the OAG seeks to proceed solely based on speculation that respondent’s (Starbucks’) goals or initiatives theoretically could give rise to discrimination.'

What is DEI?

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a term used to describe programs and policies that encourage fairer representation and participation for groups that have been historically and systematically marginalized, such as Black people, women, LGBTQ+ community members, disabled people and ethnic minorities in the U.S.

DEI programs in business are intended to make sure that everyone – especially groups that have historically been underrepresented or discriminated against – receives fair treatment and that differences are embraced to improve relations and teamwork and increase cultural sensitivity. Most current DEI programs grew out of the affirmative action measures started during the Civil Rights era and exploded in popularity during the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, especially after the murder of George Floyd and other Black Americans led to worldwide protests against racism.

Critics say DEI programs prioritize minorities to the exclusion of more qualified candidates and accuse them of being anti-white, anti-male, ideologically-driven 'woke' policies that serve as racial discrimination against White Americans.

Supporters say anti-DEI advocates see only White men as capable and intelligent and assume all women and people of color, no matter how qualified, are only in a position of power due to quotas.

The war against DEI

DEI has been a particular target among conservatives in recent years.

Immediately upon taking office in January, President Donald Trump issued executive orders stripping all DEI programs and policies out of the federal workplace and terminating all federal DEI offices and employees. All federal grants were frozen so they could be reviewed for 'wokeness' (later challenged in court and finally rescinded) and many instances of DEI-related material were removed during the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) purge on the federal government. The Trump administration has pressured employers and federal contractors to overhaul their hiring practices to align with Trump’s priorities, and many companies have ended their DEI programs.

Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis were ahead of him.

The 'Stop WOKE Act' in 2022 limited discussion of race, gender and other topics in state university classrooms and banned diversity practices and training that could make employees feel 'personal responsibility' for actions committed in the past by someone of the 'same race, color, sex or national origin.' That part of the Act was permanently struck down by a federal judge.

After the liberal arts college New College of Florida in Sarasota had its board members replaced by conservative DeSantis appointees it quickly abolished the school’s DEI office.

In 2023, DeSantis signed legislation to ban state or federal funding for any state university programs that 'advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.'

'My office will work to eliminate DEI root and branch if a corporation weaponizes DEI to impose illegal racial quotas,' Uthmeier said.

'Florida will hold them accountable.'

The News Service of Florida contributed to this story.