Editing Starbucks (section)

=== Racial controversies ===
Starbucks has been accused of racial bias and discrimination on several occasions. In 1994, Starbucks settled a lawsuit after two employees were dismissed because of their race, age, and sex. A black woman filed a suit after her direct supervisor, a regional vice president, said he would like to call her Toby, a slave name which was given to African [[Kunta Kinte]] in the TV miniseries ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]]''. Her co-worker spoke on her behalf, after which she was fired.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Starbucks Settles Discrimination Suit -- Employees Say They Were Fired Because Of Their Race, Age, Sex {{!}} The Seattle Times|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19940801&slug=1923225|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=archive.seattletimes.com}}</ref> In 2008, a former African American Starbucks engineer sued the company for discrimination after his supervisor failed to address racist bullying he was experiencing at the workplace, instead giving him extra work due to his complaining. Starbucks settled the suit in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Allison|first=Melissa|date=June 23, 2009|title=Starbucks pays $120,000 to settle racial discrimination lawsuit, but the check hasn't been cashed|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/starbucks-pays-120000-to-settle-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-but-the-check-hasnt-been-cashed/|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}</ref> The [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] has raised allegations against Starbucks for racial bias in its promotions, allegedly based on workforce data from 2007 to 2011 that showed that minority retail partners in the United States received fewer promotions than statistically expected.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 31, 2021|title=Starbucks reaches agreement with EEOC over alleged bias in promotions|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/starbucks-reaches-agreement-with-eeoc-over-alleged-bias-in-promotions/|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

The 2015 Starbucks "Race Together" campaign, when baristas were instructed to write the phrase "Race Together" on customer's cups with the aim to start a national dialogue about race, was heavily criticized and received backlash.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shah|first=Khushbu|date=March 17, 2015|title=Can Starbucks Fix Racism With a Message on a Cup?|url=https://www.eater.com/2015/3/17/8231973/can-starbucks-fix-racism-with-a-message-on-a-cup|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=Eater|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=March 18, 2015|title=Starbucks' Move To Debate Race Brews Backlash|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/starbucks-race-backlash_n_6898324|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=HuffPost|language=en}}</ref> In 2020, employees were prohibited from wearing [[Black Lives Matter]] symbols or phrases on their clothing or accessories.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Beer|first=Tommy|title=Starbucks Bans Employees From Wearing Black Lives Matter Attire|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/06/11/starbucks-bans-employees-from-wearing-black-lives-matter-attire/|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref>

Individual Starbucks cafes have faced criticism over incidents of racial bias, leading the company to close 8,000 cafes for a day in 2018 for [[sensitivity training|racial bias training]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hyken |first1=Shep |title=Starbucks Closes 8,000 Stores For Racial Bias Training -- Is It Enough? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2018/06/01/starbucks-closes-8000-stores-for-racial-bias-training-is-it-enough/ |work=[[Forbes]] |date=June 1, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> In 2014, a [[Milwaukee]] Starbucks employee called the police when they noticed a black man sleeping in a park, which resulted in the police officer [[Killing of Dontre Hamilton|killing the man]] by shooting him 14 times, prompting protests.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 17, 2018|title='They didn't care:' Call from Starbucks employee prompted response that led to Dontre Hamilton's death|url=https://www.fox6now.com/news/they-didnt-care-call-from-starbucks-employee-prompted-response-that-led-to-dontre-hamiltons-death|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=FOX 6 Now Milwaukee|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2018, two black men were arrested and escorted out of a [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]] Starbucks after the staff called the police because they refused to leave. The video of the incident quickly became viral and sparked widespread outrage.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Madej|first1=Patricia|last2=DiStefano|first2=Joseph N.|last3=Adelman|first3=Jacob|title=Black men's arrests at Philadelphia Starbucks prompt city probes amid national outcry|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/starbucks-philadelphia-police-viral-video-investigation-race-20180414.html|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=www.inquirer.com|date=April 14, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> In another 2018 incident, a black man was denied the code for the restroom for not being a customer, even though at the same time a white man was given that code before ordering anything.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 16, 2018|title='Is It My Skin Color?' Black Man Asks in Viral Video After Apparently Being Denied Restroom Access at Torrance Starbucks|url=https://ktla.com/news/local-news/is-it-my-skin-color-black-man-asks-in-viral-video-after-apparently-being-denied-restroom-access-at-torrance-starbucks/|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=KTLA|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2021, a Starbucks in Ireland was fined €12,000 after an Irish Thai customer received her order with a racist drawing on the cup.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 19, 2021|title=Starbucks in Dublin fined over racist drawing on customer's cup|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/starbucks-dublin-ireland-fine-racist-drawing-customer-cup/|access-date=May 10, 2021|website=Politico|language=en-US}}</ref>