Two consumers have filed a proposed class action alleging Starbucks misled shoppers in the states of New York and Washington with its “Committed to 100% Ethical Coffee Sourcing” claims.
The lawsuit also claims that the Seattle-based coffee giant failed to disclose alleged industrial solvents detected in at least one decaffeinated coffee product.
Filed Jan. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the suit was brought by Jennifer Williams of Ferndale, Washington, and David Strauss of Irvington, New York.
In an emailed statement to Daily Coffee News, Starbucks said, “We take the allegations raised in the Williams and Strauss lawsuit seriously, but we firmly believe they are inaccurate and misrepresent both our sourcing practices and the integrity of our Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices program.”
Marketing Allegations
At the center of the complaint is Starbucks’ consumer-facing “100% ethical sourcing” pledge, which is printed on packaged coffee and shown in other marketing materials.
The complaint cites multiple third-party sources over roughly the past decade alleging labor and human rights abuses at some farms or cooperatives certified under Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices program, an in-house sustainability certification scheme.
In one example, the suit points to a 2022 Brazilian labor complaint involving Cooxupé, described as a cooperative that has provided a major share of Starbucks’ Brazil sourcing while holding C.A.F.E. Practices certification.
Some of the allegations outlined in the complaint echo a lawsuit filed in January 2024 by the National Consumers League (NCL), which sued Starbucks in D.C. Superior Court alleging the company’s “100% ethical” sourcing claims were deceptive under the District’s consumer protection law.
That case took a procedural detour into federal court before being remanded back to D.C. Superior Court in January 2025. In August 2025, the NCL announced that a D.C. judge denied Starbucks’ motion to dismiss, allowing the case to move forward.
Decaf Allegations
The new Williams and Strauss lawsuit also alleges that Starbucks failed to disclose volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may have affected the purchasing decisions of consumers.
The complaint states that the testing arranged on behalf of the plaintiffs detected the chemicals benzene and toluene, as well as methylene chloride. The latter is a chemical solvent that has been widely used in the coffee industry in the decaffeination process.
In the suit, the plaintiffs do not allege that Starbucks violated any federal food-safety regulation, exceeded any FDA residue limit or failed to include information required by federal law.
However, they claim Starbucks engaged in “deceptive omissions” that caused people to “purchase the product under the false impression that it consisted exclusively of coffee and to pay a price premium they otherwise would not have paid.”
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Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
