A new lawsuit has accused the Starbucks Corporation of violating Florida’s Civil Rights Act with its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a complaint against the Seattle-based coffee company on Dec. 10, accusing it of implementing and enforcing race-based quotas for hiring and advancement.
“My office is suing Starbucks for using DEI policies that cross the line into illegal race-based quotas,” Uthmeier said in a video posted on X on Dec. 10.
“Starbucks made DEI more than a slogan. 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 brazen discrimination and it is against the law.”
Starbucks, which has over 18,000 stores across the United States, was accused of a series of civil rights violations in the Sunshine State that related to reverse discrimination.
According to court documents reviewed by The Epoch Times, Starbucks is being accused of unfairly prioritizing minority groups over majority groups.
The DEI policies allegedly included paying employees in Florida at different wage levels based on their race, tying “executive compensation to participation in race-based mentorship programs,” and excluding white people from advancement opportunities.
The court filing specifically cited the company’s 2020 report on “diverse representation goals.” As part of the effort, Starbucks stated that it sought to hire “people of color” in 40 percent of retail and distribution center jobs and 30 percent of corporate jobs by 2025.
The complaint shared a 2025 notice of annual meeting of shareholders and proxy statement, in which Starbucks disclosed plans to boost “people of color” working in management positions “and above” by at least 1.5 percent by fiscal year 2026.
The document also alleged that the company based 7.5 percent of an executive’s compensation in fiscal year 2024 on mentoring people in what it described as the BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) community.
“DEI can never be an excuse to violate someone’s civil rights,” Uthmeier said.
“Every worker in our state deserves to be hired on merit, qualifications and character not race. Florida law protects that principle and we will enforce it.”
The lawsuit stated that “civil rights protections extend to everyone—both minorities and nonminorities,” and alleged that Starbucks failed to provide those protections.
A spokesperson for Starbucks in a message to The Epoch Times on Dec. 11 denied accusations that its policies violated Florida’s Civil Rights Act of 1992.
“We are deeply committed to creating opportunity for every single one of our partners (employees),“ the message reads. ”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.”
Florida is home to over 900 Starbucks locations, including a store in Highlands County, Florida, where the lawsuit was filed.
