Starbucks executives and directors are being sued over diversity policies

FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks coffee is seen in downtown Los Angeles, California, US, June 29, 2022. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

August 31 (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.O) executives and managers have been sued by a conservative think-tank that believes the coffee chain’s efforts to promote diversity amount to racial discrimination.

In a complaint filed Tuesday, the National Center for Public Policy Research objected to Starbucks setting employment targets for blacks and other people of color, awarding contracts to “diverse” suppliers and advertisers, and linking executive pay to diversity.

The plaintiff, a Starbucks shareholder, said these policies require the company to make race-appropriate decisions that benefit minorities and violate federal and state civil rights laws.

The defendants include 35 current and former Starbucks executives and managers, including interim CEO Howard Schultz.

The complaint said that pushing diversity “personally benefits them in emerging as virtuous advocates for ‘inclusion, diversity, and fairness,’ even as it harms the company and its owners.”

Starbucks did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment.

The Seattle-based company had 34,948 stores worldwide as of July 3, including 17,050 in North America.

Several companies have beefed up their focus on diversity and training, including after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 by a police officer in Minneapolis.

In October 2020, Starbucks said it would target black, Indigenous and other people of color for at least 30% of US corporate jobs and 40% of US retail and manufacturing jobs by 2025, and link executive salaries to diversity efforts. .

Then in January, Starbucks said it planned to nearly double its annual spending with diversified suppliers and sellers to $1.5 billion by 2030, and committed 15% of this year’s advertising budget to minority-owned and “target” media companies.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Washington State Court in Spokane.

It seeks to invalidate Starbucks’ diversity policies, and requires defendants or their insurers to pay damages to the company.

The case is National Center for Public Policy Research v. Schultz et al., Spokane County Superior Court, No. 22-2-02945-32.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stemple in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis

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