TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody has requested the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) to investigate Starbucks Coffee Company for hiring practices that allegedly discriminate based on race. According to Moody, Starbucks's practices extend beyond aspirational goals and constitute unlawful quotas.
"The bottom line is hiring practices using race-based quotas are illegal," said Attorney General Moody. "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. The Florida Commission on Human Relations has a duty to investigate these concerns to ensure that Florida civil rights laws are not violated."
The complaint references a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which stated racial discrimination "demeans the dignity and worth of a person to be judged by ancestry instead of by his or her own merit and essential qualities." While this case addressed government policies, the complaint argues that federal civil rights laws also apply to private employers in many instances. FCHR is responsible for enforcing Florida’s civil rights laws, which are aligned with federal standards.
Starbucks's publicly available policies pledge to achieve representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color at 30% in corporate levels and 40% in retail and manufacturing roles by 2025. Additionally, executive compensation at Starbucks is reportedly tied to inclusion and diversity objectives.
The complaint asserts: "The Starbucks policies described above appear on their face to be racial quotas. They set specific race-based employment targets. And to the extent Starbucks suggests that these are merely aspirational 'goals,' and not quotas, that claim would be hard to square with Starbucks’s decision to tie executive compensation to meeting those targets."
Attorney General Moody emphasizes that Starbucks's publicly available policies raise sufficient concerns warranting an investigation by FCHR to ensure compliance with Florida law.
Read the full complaint here.