New uniform? No way. Starbucks employees in three states have sued the coffee giant over a new dress code that forced many to buy new clothing without reimbursement.
Class-action lawsuits were filed by employees in state courts in Illinois and Colorado. A complaint was also filed with California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency. If the complaint does not lead to penalties against Starbucks, the employees intend to file a class-action lawsuit there as well, according to the Associated Press.
The employees are backed by Starbucks Workers United, the union representing Starbucks workers that has had years-long clashes with the company over issues ranging from hours and pay to staffing and harassment.
The union has organized nearly 650 out of the 10,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. Starbucks Workers United is not party to the current lawsuits, however, it filed a charge over the dress code when it was first announced in April.
The new dress code requires employees to wear only neutral solid colors (like black, navy, khaki and gray) under their green aprons. Their pants can’t have any rips or frays and they can not wear more than one facial piercing or “theatrical makeup.”
At the time, the company said the new dress code was intended to “allow our iconic green apron to shine.”
This is a far cry from Starbucks’ prior policy, which emphasized creative expression and freedom in the employees’ clothing, and many are not happy with the change. Some stores even staged walkouts, citing the dress code change as the last straw in a slew of new policies Starbucks that employees say are stifling and damaging their ability to properly do their jobs.
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These lawsuits come on the tail of a recent change in the Starbucks training manuals that outline step-by-step how employees should interact with customers to make them feel welcome and appreciated. Employees say these strict guidelines for actions like greetings and writing on cups just make them appear robotic, and in some cases, have even put employees in danger. They say this flies in the face of cultivating an organic and friendly atmosphere, which the company said was their latest goal with the launch of the “Green Apron Service” training models in July.
