Starbucks sued over coffee sourcing: Lawsuit filed by National Consumers League explored

The '100% ethically sourced' campaign seems to have gotten Starbucks into legal trouble as the chain faces a lawsuit for 'misleading and deceptive marketing.' Filed by the United States National Consumer League (NCL), the lawsuit alleges the chain's campaign to be misleading consumers, as evidence suggests several unethical abnormalities in its sourcing and supply chain for tea and coffee products.

NCL filed the lawsuit at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on January 10, 2024, claiming that even though the chain markets itself as a leader in ethical tea and coffee sourcing, it heavily relies on cooperatives and farms committing "egregious human and labor rights violations" across the globe.

As per the lawsuit, the coffeehouse and roastery reserves chain has continuously been engaged in the purchase of coffee and tea from farms with a documented history of forced labor, child labor, s**ual harassment, and assault, along with other human rights abuses and violations.

It is to be noted that most of these farms have been located across Brazil, Guatemala, and Kenya. As per the reports by the Global Modern Slavery Index, these are some of the most concerning regions when it comes to incidents of modern slavery.

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Starbucks refutes the claims of the NCL, plans to aggressively defend against the allegations

The lawsuit was filed on January 10, 2024, at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (Image via Starbucks)

Following the lawsuit, the Chief Executive Officer of the NCL, Sally Greenberg, released a statement, commenting:

“On every bag of coffee and box of K-cups sitting on grocery store shelves, Starbucks is telling consumers a lie. The facts are clear: there are significant human rights and labor abuses across Starbuçks’ supply chain, and consumers have a right to know exactly what they’re paying for.”

The lawsuit filed by the United States National Consumer League (NCL) in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia cites cases of human and labor rights violations at farms and cooperatives across Kenya, Brazil, and Guatemala, as it alleges the chain of deceiving customers with the promise of ethically sourced coffee and tea products.

As per NCL, a popular Starbucks tea source from Kenya, James Finlay Plantation, has been the target of a BBC sting operation, which exposed rampant s**ual abuse, including cases of supervisors forcing workers into giving s**ual favors in exchange for work. The Finlay plantation has also been the target of a class action lawsuit filed by workers over 'grueling' working conditions.

The lawsuit also cites a 2022 incident at the Starbucks-certified Mesas Farm in Brazil. Back then, Brazilian law enforcement officers rescued workers aged between 15 and 17 from slavery-like working conditions at these farms. The rescued underage workers were not only made to lift heavy coffee sacks weighing over 130 pounds but were also not provided with safety equipment as prescribed by Brazilian law.

Following the uproar after the lawsuit, the coffeehouse chain released a public statement, with Michelle Burns, EVP of Global Coffee, Social Impact and Sustainability, commenting:

“Please know we take these allegations very seriously and plan to aggressively defend against claims that Starbucks has misrepresented our ethical sourcing commitments to customers.”

The coffeehouse chain refutes the allegations from NCL's lawsuits (Image via Starbucks)

Although the coffeehouse chain refutes the allegations, it may still have to defend itself if the suit goes through the hearing. Once the lawsuit gets approved, the National Consumer League will be seeking a court order preventing the coffeehouse chain from continuing the alleged deceptive and misleading marketing practices.

The NCL will also seek to have the company conduct a corrective advertising campaign against the unethical marketing practices followed throughout the decade.