LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is calling for a state investigation of the world’s largest coffee chain, signaling concerns over whether Starbucks’ diversity, equity and inclusion practices are violating state civil rights laws.
She filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations Wednesday, where she highlighted Starbucks’ company policies, including a publicly listed pledge to have people of color make up a certain percentage of corporate, retail and manufacturing roles by 2025.
“The Starbucks policies described above appear on their face to be racial quotas. They set specific race-based employment targets,” Moody wrote, saying at a minimum the policies raise “sufficient concerns that the commission should use its investigatory powers to ensure Florida law is being followed.
The call for a probe into Starbucks comes as the state’s Republican leaders and Gov. DeSantis' administration continue to push back on DEI or diversity policies on college campuses and beyond.
At a press conference Thursday, Moody told 10 Tampa Bay, that while many diversity programs started with good intentions to make sure there is zero tolerance for discrimination, “they have almost swung the pendulum to the other side, where there may be discrimination against other folks.”
“When you start to see where it might start being an issue and violation of our own civil rights laws, the Human Rights Commission here in Florida has an obligation to investigate that,” Moody said.
The call for a Starbucks probe is already brewing some pushback.
“This is such a waste of public dollars and everyone’s time,” says State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.
Eskamani calls the move an insult to actual discrimination and notes past efforts to get rid of DEI in businesses by way of the “Stop WOKE Act” that has already been ruled unconstitutional.
“Our attorney general should be focused on protecting consumers, going after price gougers, trying to deliver results. This is such a joke, and it feeds into the culture wars, which is designed to create more problems than try to solve them,” Eskamani said.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to Starbucks for comment, but we have not heard back by the time of publishing.
Attorney General Moody says this is just the beginning of the investigatory process, which will probably take some time.