Hagens Berman: Lawsuit Accuses Starbucks of Misrepresentations About Human Rights and Chemicals in its Coffee

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman filed a class-action lawsuit against Starbucks Corporation alleging it misleads consumers by promising that the company is “Committed to 100% Ethical Coffee Sourcing,” while also concealing systematic human rights and labor law violations in its supply chain.

The lawsuit was filed Jan. 13, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and accuses Starbucks of making false representations: “Despite packages of Starbucks coffee stating Starbucks is ‘Committed to 100% Ethical Coffee Sourcing’ extensive investigations by journalists, labor organizations, and human-rights monitors have documented that farms certified under Starbucks’ own C.A.F.E. [Coffee And Farmer Equity] Practices program have repeatedly engaged in egregious labor abuses and degrading working conditions, and violations of local labor laws.” When confronted with detailed evidence of abuse, Starbucks repeatedly looked the other way—failing to investigate, slow-walking or withholding decertification, continuing to source from offending suppliers, all while keeping its customers in the dark, according to the lawsuit.

“Starbucks has gone to great lengths to attempt to conceal the reality behind its label,” said Steve W. Berman, managing partner and co-founder of Hagens Berman. “Starbucks continues to profit by hiding the true nature of its supply chains and chemical processing practices.”

According to the lawsuit, “Starbucks has built substantial consumer trust by presenting itself as an ethical leader in the coffee industry. This case seeks to hold Starbucks accountable for telling consumers it guarantees the ethical nature of coffee supply chain that the facts on the ground do not support. And this case addresses the company’s failure to tell consumers that VOCs [volatile organic compounds] are present in Starbucks’ decaffeinated coffee.”

“Starbucks has been linked to farms that mistreat workers, do not provide proper housing and sanitary bathrooms, and from which workers—including minors—were found to be working in extreme conditions and in violation of local labor laws,” Berman said. “And when Starbucks was confronted with these systemic violations, Starbucks simply shrugged and continued to source from offending suppliers for years and years.”

Berman added, “How a company can do business with farms like that and still tout a record of a commitment to 100% ethical sourcing is confounding. If consumers knew the truth about Starbucks’ practices, we believe they would not support this.”

Human Rights Violations

Starbucks chooses to prominently claim that it is “100% Committed to Ethical Coffee Sourcing” on the front of all its coffee bean package labels because Starbucks knows that this claim is material to reasonable consumers. The coffee chain’s C.A.F.E. [Coffee And Farmer Equity] Practices program is labeled as its “cornerstone of ethical sourcing approach.”

Despite packages of Starbucks coffee representing a 100% commitment to ethical sourcing practices, attorneys say this impression is “false and misleading due to its documented inaction to systemic human rights and labor law violations.” The complaint sheds light on the alleged empty promises of certifications.

Recent investigations by the Center for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) found extensive human rights violations that go back for years: “In 2018, workers were subject to ‘degrading working conditions’ and ‘wretched housing’ that was covered in mold and infested with insects and rats, and that lacked proper water and sewage. Dead bats were present in the workers’ water tank. And yet, Fartura had been C.A.F.E. certified since 2016.”

The lawsuit states, “In 2022, the Brazilian government issued a complaint against the largest supplier of Starbucks in Brazil, the C.A.F.E. Practices-certified Cooxupé cooperative, which includes over 2000 farms and accounts for 40% of Starbucks’ Brazilian coffee supply. The complaint cites abusive and unsafe working conditions including physical and psychological violence and confinement.”

Safety: Decaffeination and Chemicals

The second misrepresentation by Starbucks, according to the lawsuit, leads the public to believe that its decaf house blend medium roast coffee’s only ingredient is arabica coffee, but the lawsuit states, “Starbucks omits, however, that the Starbucks Decaf Coffee Products contain detectable levels of industrial solvents and other VOCs introduced during decaffeination, manufacturing, and packaging processes within Starbucks’s control.”

Independent testing of Starbucks’s decaf house blend medium roast coffee, facilitated by plaintiff’s counsel, detected the presence of methylene chloride, benzene and toluene.

“The presence of these solvents and VOCs is material to reasonable consumers,” the lawsuit states. “Consumers purchasing decaffeinated coffee—many of whom do so for pregnancy, health-related, sensitivity-related, or lifestyle reasons—would reasonably expect disclosure of non-coffee chemical substances introduced during industrial processing, particularly where such substances are associated with manufacturing solvents, packaging materials, or chemical extraction methods rather than with coffee itself.”

Find out more about the lawsuit against Starbucks alleging misleading statements regarding ethical sourcing, environmental sustainability and unexpected chemicals.

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation law firm with a tenacious drive for achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. Since its founding in 1993, the firm’s determination has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of “Most Feared Plaintiff’s Firm,” MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.