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International Rights Advocates filed the lawsuit in U.S.
District Court in Washington on behalf of eight Brazilian coffee
farm workers.
The lawsuit alleges that Starbucks violated U.S. trafficking
laws by continuing to buy coffee from Cooxupe even after
Brazilian authorities repeatedly cited the cooperative for
trafficking and forced labor violations.
The plaintiffs — who were not named in the lawsuit because
International Rights Advocates said they fear retribution —
allege they were lured to farms with the promise of good pay and
working conditions. But instead, they were put in filthy housing
and the cost of their transportation, food and equipment was
deducted from their pay.
“Consumers are paying obscene amounts for a cup of Starbucks
coffee that was harvested by trafficked slaves,” said
International Rights Advocates founder Terry Collingsworth, who
is representing the plaintiffs. "It is time to hold Starbucks
accountable for profiting from human trafficking.”
Starbucks said Thursday that the lawsuit's claims are without
merit.
The company said it only purchases coffee from a small fraction
of Cooxupe's 19,000 coffee farm members. All of Starbucks'
coffee comes from farms whose labor and environmental practices
meet the company's standards, it said. Starbucks said its
verification program was developed by outside experts and
includes regular third-party audits.
“Starbucks is committed to ethical sourcing of coffee including
helping to protect the rights of people who work on the farms
where we purchase coffee from,” the company said in a statement.
Cooxupe said Thursday that it was not part of the lawsuit and
doesn't have access to it.
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Associated Press Writer Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo
contributed.
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