Florida's DeSantis seeks investigation on Starbucks over DEI practices

Florida authorities have filed a complaint against Starbucks over its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices, seeking for a state agency to determine if its violating anti-discrimination laws.

The filing was announced by Governor Ron DeSantis and state Attorney General Ashley Moody during the former's guest host sting on "The Sean Hannity Show."

"We're going to make sure that in Florida this quota or hiring and programs that cause every employee to determine whether they are the problem based on the color of their skin, whether that violates Florida's anti-discrimination laws, and so the matter will be investigated," Moody said on the radio show.

"I'm proud to report that we are referring the matter officially to the Florida Commission on Human Relations for full investigation of Starbucks and these practices," she added.

The complaint alleges that Starbucks' goal of having 30% of people of color in corporate roles and 40% in retail and manufacturing by 2025 violates the state's civil rights acts.

According to data obtained by the Florida Phoenix, more than 48% of employees at Starbucks are white, 31.7% are Hispanic, 8.1% are Black, and 5.9% are Asian.

Florida authorities already tried to pass a bill in 2023 to prevent companies from requiring employees to attend DEI training. Called the Stop Woke Act, it was turned down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which said it was unconstitutional when applied to businesses.

The decision comes amid a broader push against DEI, especially from Republican figures around the country who claim these practices are in fact discriminatory against other sectors of the population. The push increased across the country following the Supreme Court case that gutted affirmative action last year.

In fact, a two-decade-old program from Southwest Airlines that awards free round-trip flights to Hispanic college students is currently being challenged in a lawsuit by a prominent anti-affirmative action group, which alleges the program is racially discriminatory.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Alliance for Equal Rights in a federal court in Dallas. The group is led by Edward Blum, a prominent conservative litigant known for his anti-affirmative action cases. They argue that the airline's program violated civil rights laws by excluding non-Hispanic students from eligibility for free tickets.

The lawsuit alleged that the program violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a Civil War-era law that bars racial bias in contracting.

It also claimed the program violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination in federally funded programs or activities, according to an NBC News report. The airline received federal funding during the pandemic, making it eligible to be sued under that statute, according to the complaint.

In March, the Smithsonian Museum settled a lawsuit with Blum's group that claimed the museum's Latino Museum Studies Program undergraduate internship violated the US Constitution discriminating based on race and ethnicity.