On Monday, an ex-employee filed an amended complaint in the Southern District of Texas against Starbucks, Inc. Ind, Starbucks Corporation and Starbucks Coffee Company alleging discrimination on the basis of race, religion and disability and hostile working environment.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff is a resident of Houston, Texas, and worked part-time for Starbucks starting in 2008 until his termination in October 2020. The complaint states that he is a Black, Jewish man who struggles with depression, anxiety, and ADHD. He states that while working at Starbucks he received mostly satisfactory-to-excellent performance reviews and at least 6 merit raises during his tenure until 2019. Additionally, the complaint states that in 2013, the plaintiff began working as a barista and received several accolades and achievements as a barista including “Coffee Master” and “Trainer.”
The complaint states that in late 2018 the plaintiff and his coworkers were informed that a new district manager would be taking over, and he was assigned to work at a new Starbucks location in Houston. The plaintiff alleges that at this Starbucks location non-white and/or darker-skinned workers, including himself, received worse treatment than white workers resulting in unequal write-ups, enforcement of policies and scrutiny. Additionally, the plaintiff argues that he faced harassment and discrimination based on his disability.
The plaintiff states that on September 13, 2019, this disparate treatment created such a hostile working environment that he felt it was necessary to document the blatant mistreatment. Specifically, he alleges that on that day he was denied a required work break despite all other workers receiving their breaks following months of being yelled at and otherwise demeaned publicly by management.
Further, the plaintiff states that on December 19, 2019, after being required to work on days he had received approved time off to observe religious holidays and discriminatory remarks about customers by his managers, he filed a filed a complaint with the corporate office against his managers.
On January 20, 2020, the plaintiff states that he met with his managers about the complaint, but the complaint was not addressed and instead the managers began retaliating against him for allegedly making a false complaint. Following this incident, the complaint states that his manager filed a retaliatory corrective action against him and he again reached out to the corporate office to discuss the discrimination. The plaintiff states that he was promised an investigation into the discrimination, but he never received the results or findings of any alleged investigation.
Due to the continuous harassment, the plaintiff states his anxiety and depression worsened and he requested ADA accommodations and a transfer to a different location. The complaint states that he was eventually transferred in the summer of 2020, but his hours were significantly reduced and he faced similar disparate treatment. On October 15, 2020, the plaintiff states that he was terminated for having his partner in the backroom despite the policy prohibiting family members from being in the back room not being enforced against other employees. He argues that he instead was fired as retaliation for his complaints about the discrimination at Starbucks. He states that he appealed his termination, again alleging discrimination, but his appeal was denied by Starbucks Senior HR manager.
Accordingly, the plaintiff filed the present lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliation on the basis of race, religion and disability and a hostile work environment claim. The plaintiff seeks back and front pay, lost wages and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and affirmative relief, attorney’s fees and costs. The plaintiff is represented by Coane and Associates, PLLC.
