USA: 8 Brazilian workers refile lawsuit against Starbucks in Washington state for alleged forced labour by company's supplier
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"Starbucks lawsuit alleges Brazilian workers faced 'slavery-like conditions' on coffee farms", 18 June 2026
A class-action lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle accuses Starbucks of profiting from Brazilian coffee workers who were trafficked and forced to work under what the complaint describes as "slavery-like conditions."...
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs live in Quilombo communities in the Jequitinhonha Valley region of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The complaint alleges they were recruited by illegal labor brokers known as "gatos," who promised high wages and favorable working conditions before sending them to coffee plantations in southern Minas Gerais.
Once there, the lawsuit says, the workers were forced to harvest coffee under conditions Brazilian officials determined amounted to trafficking and forced labor...
The lawsuit says the farms were members of Cooxupé, a Brazilian coffee cooperative that it describes as a Tier 1 supplier of Brazilian coffee to Starbucks.
The plaintiffs allege Starbucks and Cooxupé maintained a business relationship that benefited from the low cost of forced labor.
The lawsuit brings claims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and alleges violations related to Brazilian laws prohibiting trafficking and forced labor...
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs first sued Starbucks in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in April 2025.
That case was dismissed in February 2026 for lack of personal jurisdiction, the lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs refiled the case in the Western District of Washington, arguing that Starbucks' Seattle headquarters make the district the proper venue.
The lawsuit seeks actual, statutory, compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys' fees and other costs. The plaintiffs also requested a jury trial.
KING 5 has reached out to Starbucks for comment.