Tag: racebased

  • Missouri AG sues Starbucks over ‘race-based’ hiring, DEI initiatives

    Missouri AG sues Starbucks over ‘race-based’ hiring, DEI initiatives

    Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Starbucks on Tuesday for using “race-based hiring practices” in alleged violation of anti-discrimination laws.

    Bailey’s lawsuit alleges that Starbucks violates the Missouri Human Rights Act. The lawsuit highlights programs Starbucks offers to promote “BIPOC” employees, referring to Black, indigenous and people of color. It also targets the company for “setting and tracking annual inclusion and diversity goals of achieving BIPOC representation of at least 30 percent at all corporate levels and at least 40 percent of all retail and manufacturing roles by 2025,” according to a draft of the lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital.

    “With Starbucks’ discriminatory patterns, practices, and policies, Missouri’s consumers are required to pay higher prices and wait longer for goods and services that could be provided for less had Starbucks employed the most qualified workers, regardless of their race, color, sex, or national origin,” Bailey claimed in a statement.

    Starbucks did not respond by press time to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

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    Starbucks is facing a lawsuit in Missouri over its hiring practices and other programs. (Getty Images)

    “As Attorney General, I have a moral and legal obligation to protect Missourians from a company that actively engages in systemic race and sex discrimination,” Bailey said. “Racism has no place in Missouri. We’re filing suit to halt this blatant violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act in its tracks.”

    Bailey’s lawsuit relies on the Supreme Court ruling that federal law prohibits discrimination based on race in college admissions, arguing that the decision also applies to hiring practices.

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    By allegedly linking its hiring practices to race and gender quotas, Starbucks has “blatantly violated the law,” the lawsuit claims.

    Missouri AG Andrew Bailey

    Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Starbucks on Tuesday. (Vanessa Abbitt/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

    “Additionally, the company discriminates based on race and gender when it comes to board membership. All of these actions are unlawful,” Bailey’s office said in a statement.

    The lawsuit comes just weeks after news that Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol warned the company’s employees about incoming layoffs in March.

    In a message to employees, he highlighted how the company aims to deliver on its “Back to Starbucks” strategy, a series of changes announced last year that aims to enhance customers’ in-store experience, but also said it needs to strive for better efficiency, which will ultimately result in layoffs.

    Starbucks barista working behind the counter

    A Starbucks barista works at one of the company’s stores. (iStock)

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    “We have recently begun the work to define the support organization for the future. We are approaching this work thoughtfully, but it will involve difficult decisions and choices. I expect that, unfortunately, we will have job eliminations and smaller support teams moving forward,” Niccol wrote.

    Read the full Missouri lawsuit below

  • Wisconsin mom urges Trump admin to launch ‘pivotal’ probe into alleged race-based discrimination against son

    Wisconsin mom urges Trump admin to launch ‘pivotal’ probe into alleged race-based discrimination against son

    FIRST ON FOX: An official civil rights complaint has been filed to the Trump administration urging action in defense of a Wisconsin mother who alleges her son, who is White, was passed over being given the extra learning attention he needed due to language on the school’s website that says it prioritizes additional help for students based on race.

    The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a Title VI civil rights complaint on Tuesday with the Department of Education’s Civil Rights office against the Green Bay Area Public School District after Colbey Decker alleged that a “troubling” and “unlawful” policy in the district “explicitly prioritizes reading support resources based on race, thereby violating the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

    “Colbey Decker, a mom from Green Bay, Wisconsin, has a dyslexic son who was denied reading resources because he is white,” WILL said in a press release. “Not only does the GBAPS admit this practice through its ‘School Success Plan,’ which explicitly says it prioritizes some racial groups over others, but this message was conveyed directly to Mrs. Decker by a school principal during an in-person meeting.”

    “Mrs. Decker’s complaint comes at a pivotal moment because President Trump just ordered the U.S. Department of Education to direct all ‘local educational agencies that receive federal funds’ to implement measures and practices” required to comply with the Constitution’s demand of colorblind treatment of all students. WILL has issued a report and called on the Trump Administration to investigate claims of race discrimination in K-12 schools, and we hope that this is the first case they resolve.”

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    Trump’s Department of Education has been asked to investigate a discrimination claim in Wisconsin  (Getty/AP)

    Fox News Digital previously spoke to Decker in December about her experience with the school district.

    “Any time a parent or a grandparent advocates for a child, I know that their sincere hope is that that child is just treated equally,” Decker said. “And that’s not what’s happening when someone is a priority. If someone is more of a priority than someone else’s child has to be less of a priority. And I don’t think that’s the way most of America wants to move forward with education.”

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    US Department of Education

    The US Department of Education building is seen on August 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Tierney L. Cross)

    “I think everybody wants us to just be completely color-blind and look at children as simply being children. My son is in the 17th percentile in the state for reading, and there are children who are performing at a higher level than him that are more of a priority only because of their skin color. And I don’t think most parents want anything like that to ever happen in any educational setting ever.”

    The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights told Fox News Digital it “does not confirm complaints.”

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    “Our client’s son continues to lose valuable time in his educational development. It’s time for the GBAPS to adopt a color-blind policy for giving all kids access to important resources,” WILL Associate Counsel Lauren Gruel said in a press release. “We hope our appeal to the federal government will provide the catalyst needed to address this injustice.” 

    The district told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that “we do not feel we are able to comment until we have had sufficient time to review.”

    The district previously told Fox News Digital that “all District policies must be approved by the Board of Education and no such policy language exists.”

    The complaint states that the district has “refused to take any action to end its discrimination.”

    “WILL asks that the Department promptly investigate the allegations in this complaint, act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices, and order appropriate relief,” the complaint states. “Thank you for your prompt attention to this request for investigation and resolution.”