Starbucks resolves Florida DEI lawsuit with blockbuster companywide agreement

Starbucks will pay Florida $1 million and will not use race-and sex-based goals, quotas and preferences in employment practices companywide under a sweeping settlement ending the state's civil rights lawsuit against the coffee giant.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's office confirmed to Fox News Digital that the agreement applies to all Starbucks operations nationwide, not just the company's locations in Florida.

The negotiated resolution ends the lawsuit Uthmeier filed in December 2025 accusing Starbucks of violating the Florida Civil Rights Act through racial and sex-based goals, quotas and preferences in its workplace policies. Under the agreement, Starbucks committed to complying with the state civil rights law, which prohibits race and sex-based preferences in hiring, promotions, pay, executive compensation, mentorship programs, supplier selection and board composition.

The company also agreed it will not participate in organizations that require it to increase the racial diversity of its board of directors.

Starbucks' chief legal officer will be required to submit annual certifications of the company's continued compliance for four years. The company will also pay $1 million to the Florida Department of Legal Affairs to reimburse the office for the time, expenses and costs of bringing the case.

The agreement includes no admission of liability or wrongdoing by Starbucks.

The settlement follows Uthmeier's lawsuit, which alleged Starbucks had turned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives into a system that discriminated based on race. The December complaint pointed to goals Starbucks announced in 2020 to have people of color fill 40% of retail and manufacturing jobs and 30% of corporate positions by 2025. It also alleged the company paid certain employees more than workers of other races with the same experience and skills and, before March 2024, tied executive bonuses to diversity goals.

For fiscal year 2024 , the lawsuit alleged that bonus criteria included executives mentoring Black, Indigenous and other employees of color, holding monthly meetings with mentees and keeping retention among those workers above a stated threshold.

The complaint further alleged that Florida Starbucks employees and job applicants contacted the attorney general's office and reported feeling excluded or humiliated because they were White.

Uthmeier accused the company of "systemic discrimination" against workers.