No coffee for old men

When you go through Starbucks to get your morning fix, do you notice the age of the baristas? Well, someone did, and she has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the company. Deborah Boyajian applied for a barista position at several Starbucks locations in the Portland, Maine, area in late 2005 and early 2006 but was not hired. Boyajian, age 56, claims the only reason she was not hired is because of her age. Starbucks sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, citing insufficient evidence, but was denied.

Boyajian’s attorney claims a hiring manager who turned down Boyajian lied about why he did not hire Boyajian and that he ignored Starbucks’ hiring policies. That manager, Boyajian’s attorney says, hired 19 people, none of whom were older than 30. Starbucks says it supports diversity and does not condone or tolerate discrimination of any sort.

Boyajian is asking for punitive damages of up to $300,000, as well as $30,000 in attorney fees, $10,000 in other applicable costs, and more than $20,000 in lost wages (i.e., wages she would have earned had she been hired by Starbucks). The lawsuit will go to trial in February 2009.

This was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 and is filed in the Legal categories.