Florida’s Attorney General took to a national radio show hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis to raise concerns about the hiring practices of a certain coffee company.
“We’re going to make sure that in Florida, this quota for 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,” Atorney General Ashley Moody said on the “Sean Hannity 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.”
Moody’s take is that “good intentions can swing in the opposite direction.”
“Many of these (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies that have been pushed in corporate America that were meant to address and prevent discrimination are now pushing policies and programs and initiatives that may in fact the unlawful employment practices in fact becoming discriminatory themselves, in fact further dividing racial friction and polarization and society,” Moody added.
Whether Starbucks is responsible for America’s racial divide is a matter of perspective, but by the end of the business day Wednesday, the AG’s Office memorialized the position in a press release.
“According to publicly available policies, Starbucks pledges to achieve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color represented in at least 30% of all corporate levels and 40% of all retail and manufacturing roles by 2025. According to further publicly available policies, Starbucks executives have compensation tied to inclusion and diversity objectives,” the Moody’s Office said.
“The bottom line is hiring practices using race-based quotas are illegal. Starbucks has published publicly available policies that raise sufficient concerns that they are using a quota system, and that compensation is tied to that system. The Florida Commission on Human Relations has a duty to investigate these concerns to ensure that Florida civil rights laws are not violated.”
Per the complaint, the policies “appear on their face to be racial quotas … race-based employment targets.”
“And to the extent Starbucks suggests that these are merely aspirational ‘goals,’ and not quotas, that claim would be hard to square with Starbucks’s decision to tie executive compensation to meeting those targets.”
Joe D says
CLEARLY STARBUCKS is the new “Disney Studios” for Governor Ron DeSantis’ current ADMINISTRATION…I guess his name and OUTRAGEOUS legislation choices have dropped out of recent media and he has to keep his NAME CIRCULATING in the Media SOMEHOW….STARBUCKS is a Nationwide corporation, with widespread NAME recognition….so here we are….AGAIN!
Give me a BREAK!!!
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
The GOP sticking their noses again where they needn’t be. Sounds like she’s setting up to bring about another lawsuit paid by the Florida Taxpayers, again. Vote smart this time around people.
Deborah Coffey says
Probably legally correct…made by a corrupt Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action and White Supremacists. Sorry, Starbucks, the court says you’ve got to be a MAGA in the United States of America or you’ll be prosecuted for not respecting White privilege.
R.S. says
Ashley Moody is perfectly correct: the pendulum might swing the other way too far. However, there’s a quick way to check whether it has done so. The average income of a Black family in ’22 was $52,860. according to the US Census Bureau; the average income of a White family was $77,250. Might Ms. Moody be ill informed, or has the average income of a Black family in a couple of years indeed outpaced the average income of White families? I suspect the former: kudos to Starbucks!! I suspect that Aramis Ayala would have been a much, much saner choice.
Bill Lyon says
It seems obvious from her remarks that the AG was hired to help fill a quota for women in the current Administration. She was certainly not hired for her talent, education and expertise.
c says
@R.S.
No matter what kind of spin reasons the New MAGA Republicans (we can’t call them the American Fascist Party unless Trump wins – gods and devils forbid) come up with, I still feel that the biggest problem they have with things like affirmative action, equality, DEI, etc. is that – given a chance – these so-called ‘inferior’ peoples outperform the average MAGA in almost every case – and that scares the hell out of them.
So, basically, when someone like Moody says things like ‘ “good intentions can swing in the opposite direction.” ‘ – what she really means is that is that ‘”We were forced to give them a chance, and now they’re showing up the white Aryans” and must be stopped’.
And, as to your statement and query regarding average Black incomes over the years and whether Moody (BTW, are you sure you are allowed to say “MS.” Moody in Florida? Might be gender-affirming you know:) is ill-informed …
Yes, you are correct in the recognition of the still-existing disparity, and No, Moody is NOT ill informed – but she would rather that that ‘alternative fact’ didn’t get nosed about. Facts are soooo depressing when you’re trying to push an irrational argument with zero evidence.
Angela says
Agreed, they only are sticking their noses to polarize and drum up business. DEI is the only way the good old boys club have been forced to meaningfully open opportunity to people outside of their friend group. The people who look and act like them. The good old boys club does not like to be told. Now they weaponize DEI against us for their political gain. I call BS!
Pogo says
@The AG is elected
…Moody was “hired” by the same people responsible for 26+ years of crap piled high and deep here along the Swanee river.