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Starbucks Age Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Markel Oden has filed a class action lawsuit against Starbucks Corporation.
- Why: The plaintiff alleges Starbucks discriminates against older employees and favors those younger than age 40.
- Where: The lawsuit is pending in Georgia federal court.
Starbucks’ culture and practices favor younger applicants at the expense of their older counterparts, a new class action lawsuit claims.
Lead plaintiff Markel Oden claims that individuals 40 years of age and older are rarely offered store manager positions, whether by application from persons outside the company or from internal applications from employees seeking promotion from within related to posted openings.
“Over the last five or more years, Starbucks has engaged in a targeted, systematic scheme to eliminate and terminate as many of its older workers as possible and become younger in its staffed workforce,” the class action lawsuit states.
Oden claims Starbucks has also terminated a high percentage of its older workers over the age of 40, as compared to its employees under 40, including many employees who had long-standing careers with the company and who did not have a history of written disciplinary action in an effort to obtain a younger workforce.
Starbucks Worker Passed Over for Promotions, Terminated Without Warning, Claims Class Action
Oden, 59, says his superior, who is in her 30s, was promoted to district manager in 2019, after just 3 years as a store manager. He claims he was never given any opportunity to interview for the position when it was open—despite the fact that he had been a store manager for 3 years.
Oden was then terminated from his position in July 2021 without being formally written up or disciplined for any reasons, he says. He also says his last annual job review was excellent. However, he claims he was terminated without warning and without being offered an alternative of a lower-level position
Starbucks also has been found to have had discriminatory employment practices toward African Americans, and even settled with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2021, according to the lawsuit.
In recent years, Starbucks has been accused of depriving employment applicants of their right to correct or explain erroneous background check reports.
The ubiquitous coffee company has also been accused of discriminating against hearing-impaired individuals at certain Starbucks locations.
Are you a Starbucks employee aged 40 or older who feels the company has discriminated against you because of your age? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Mitchell L. Feldman, Esq. of Feldman Legal Group.
The Starbucks Age Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Oden v. Starbucks Corporation, Case No. 1:21-cv-04869-AT-WEJ in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division.
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47 thoughts onStarbucks Favors Younger Workers, Eliminates Those Over 40, New Class Action Claims
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A lawsuit should be filed for Florida also. We are still humans with bills to pay. Hoe dare them turning down all these years of work force service. And the line was still headed out the front door and the drive thru was around the building. Goody ha,ha,ha.
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Please add me.
2nd trail was on November 13th, Same disregard for people over 40. The Manger was the same age as my granddaughter 25yrs old. Looking down at me as if I should know better than to apply for a job at my age.lol
Please add me
Please add me
I had applied at a Starbucks in Fort Myers Florida, and once the young lady store manager read over my application she quoted ” gee you don’t look 62 years old “”unquote””. Then she stated that when a position becomes available then I would get called in for a second interview. First I didn’t know that this was the 1st interview. She thanked me for my time and got up from the table, not looking bake but mind you there was a poster in window for help wanted, and a line headed out the door. You guessed it I didn’t ever hear from Starbucks ever again. Oh and I don’t get coffee from there anymore. This was 3/2020..
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This is great news! I am not a Starbucks employee, because they never hired me despite the fact that I applied for several positions at several locations in southern California over the last few years. I am also over 40 years old, and they made every excuse, and never called me back, despite having many job openings. I am surprised Starbucks has not been sued before now in every state. This is a really HUGE problem here. A class action should be filed for California as well. Many of these food chains, McDonalds, Popeyes, Chik fil A, Burger King, Del Taco, Jersey Mikes, etc.. all hire workers under 25. I just learned that Jersey Mikes in my neighborhood just hired two 16 year olds?? what???
add me pls. this is why they didnt even look at my application when I have been a barista there before. thx!
pls add me, ty