Florida files explosive lawsuit as AG uncovers shocking DEI secrets Starbucks used to hire, promote and punish workers
Florida – This week, Attorney General James Uthmeier opened a new legal front by suing Starbucks for hiring and promoting employees in ways that he argues break Florida’s Civil Rights Act. This action draws one of the most well-known organizations in the country into a rising state-level dispute over workplace diversity initiatives and how far companies can go in defining internal goals related to representation.
Uthmeier claims that his office found guidelines that went beyond reasonable diversity efforts and into what he called illegal racial quotas when he announced the complaint. The attorney general says that Starbucks set numerical goals for the racial makeup of its workers and then tied those goals to how much executives would be paid.
He said that these steps went beyond voluntary diversity commitments and instead set up a system where leaders were rewarded or punished based on how well they hired people of other races.
Uthmeier stated that the state’s investigation showed that the company’s framework affected not only recruiting at the entry level but also decisions about promotions and management positions. He adds that by incorporating race in performance criteria, Starbucks made it possible for employees to be judged on something other than their qualifications. This was a direct violation of Florida law, which says that employers can’t discriminate against people based on their race, and he said that the state had a duty to step in.
The attorney general spoke out against corporate diversity policies that he thinks have become too strict and set in stone in his comments about the complaint. Businesses can try to be more inclusive in general, but they can’t make hiring and promotion practices that put race ahead of treating everyone equally. In this case, Starbucks went too far and did it in a way that made its DEI structure not just important but also required for all of the company’s business decisions.
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Uthmeier stressed that civil rights protections are the same for everyone. Florida workers must be evaluated on their skills, character, and professional credentials, and that any conduct that goes against those criteria would be illegal. Linking executive bonuses to workforce racial goals, he said, signaled intent to institutionalize those goals rather than treat them as voluntary aspirations.
The lawsuit wants to end the conduct that the state thinks is illegal and stop similar practices from happening in the future. Uthmeier also promises to keep working to examine corporate DEI programs in Florida on a larger scale. He said his office would take action whenever it finds systems that “turn diversity goals into enforceable quotas.”
The case now moves to the courts, where judges will decide if the attorney general’s rules are discriminatory under state law. The conclusion might have effects on other businesses in Florida and on the national conversation about how far employers can go to have more representation in their ranks.
Starbucks used DEI to implement illegal race-based policies for hiring and advancement.
Using DEI as an excuse to hire, promote, or humiliate an employee based on race violates Florida's civil rights law, and we just filed a lawsuit to hold Starbucks accountable. pic.twitter.com/e3pK0GguQ0
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) December 10, 2025
