A proposed class action lawsuit filed on January 13, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington accuses Starbucks Corporation of misleading consumers about ethical sourcing and failing to disclose certain chemicals in its decaffeinated coffee products.
The complaint, brought by Jennifer Williams of Washington and David Strauss of New York, seeks to represent customers in those states who purchased Starbucks coffee.
The lawsuit claims Starbucks' prominent marketing statement "Committed to 100% Ethical Coffee Sourcing" is false. Investigations by journalists, labor organizations, United Nations agencies, and human rights groups have documented serious labor abuses on farms certified under Starbucks' C.A.F.E. Practices program.
These include forced labor, dangerous working conditions without any protective gear, not even gloves, sometimes without shoes, unacceptable living conditions, child labor, and violations of local laws.
Approximately 40-50 million people are estimated to be enslaved worldwide, with 26% being children. This ranges from human trafficking to even the coffee fields.
The suit also alleges that Starbucks omits that its Decaf House Blend medium roast coffee contains detectable levels of volatile organic compounds introduced during decaffeination, manufacturing, or packaging.
Independent testing arranged by plaintiffs' counsel detected methylene chloride at 22 parts per billion, with benzene and toluene at 87 parts per billion. Methylene chloride is a solvent that the EPA deems unsafe for consumption at any level at all; toluene is unauthorized as a food ingredient, and benzene is associated with industrial processes.
Starbucks advertises its decaf as nothing but 100% Arabica beans, but the lawsuit says customers deserve to know what else is in their coffee, especially people who pick decaf for health, pregnancy, or sensitivity reasons. The plaintiffs want the court to force Starbucks to come clean, pay damages, and stop these deceptive practices.
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP represents the plaintiffs. Starbucks has not yet publicly commented on the filing.
Starbucks' hypocrisy shines through when juxtaposed with its history of championing far-left causes that erode American values, all while sourcing beans from farms rife with forced labor and child exploitation.
The company pledged $100 million in 2021 for racial equity initiatives amid the Black Lives Matter frenzy, allowed employees to wear BLM gear during work hours, and launched the disastrous "Race Together" campaign in 2015 to force baristas into awkward discussions on race with customers. Then they caused trouble, and so they banned those same employees from wearing BLM shirts or having signs, etc.
It has lobbied heavily on immigration reform, pushing for amnesty paths that flood the labor market with cheap foreign workers, and proudly hired 10,000 "refugees" in 2017 in defiance of President Trump's travel ban.
Starbucks also flaunts LGBTQ support with annual Pride Month promotions, rainbow cups, and donations to groups like the Trevor Project, yet turns a blind eye to the human rights abuses on its supplier farms, including dangerous conditions and violations of local laws, that contradict their virtue-signaling.
This woke facade crumbles under scrutiny, revealing a corporation that preaches social justice but profits from cruel exploitation, making their "100% ethical sourcing" claim just another liberal lie to fleece consumers.