Starbucks CEO tells Fox Business that the coffee chain is ‘ahead of schedule’ in its major turnaround effort,
A former Starbucks executive is suing the coffee giant, claiming he was unfairly fired after raising safety concerns about the store’s new machines.
Janice Waszak has accused the coffee giant of unfair terminations and sexism. He says Starbucks fired him after he raised concerns about the safety and performance of a proprietary machine system known as the Siren System.
Starbucks countered that the claims are “completely without merit.”
Starbucks publicly announced the Siren plan to investors in 2022, saying it would significantly increase productivity at Starbucks stores and increase the company’s revenue and profits, the lawsuit said. However, “after further testing, Waszak learned that Siren had several defects that created health and safety risks,” the suit says, adding that Waszak “realized that Siren may never be profitable and could result in significant financial losses for the company.”
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Janice Waszak has accused the coffee giant of unfair terminations and sexism. (Stock)
Waszak is alleged in the lawsuit to have been fired “in retaliation for reporting and disproving false or misleading statements about Siren’s benefits and health and safety risks.” The court documents further stated that Starbucks also “discriminated against Waszak because of his gender when it allegedly terminated him for male behavior but did not fire male employees.”
“Safety is Starbucks’ top priority, and these allegations are without merit,” Starbucks said in a statement, adding that Waszak “has been separated from the company after an investigation into allegations that his conduct violated Starbucks’ code of conduct.”
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| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBUX | STARBUCKS CORP. | 91.69 | -0.26 |
-0.28% |
The company said it looks forward to presenting “evidence in court.”
According to the lawsuit, the problems arose when Starbucks performed a live demonstration of Siren to a large group of district managers and district directors at the Trier Center in October 2022. During the demonstration, “worms came out of the overhead milk dispenser and fell onto the counter with drinks,” according to the lawsuit. The documents also revealed that “the baristas are flipping through the maggots to avoid people in attendance seeing them.”
Starbucks said Waszak “separated from the company following an investigation into allegations that his conduct violated Starbucks’ Code of Conduct.” (Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Waszak said he “later discovered maggots were breeding in Siren’s milking machine because it had been improperly cleaned,” according to the suit.
Waszak also alleged that Starbucks employees also told him they were concerned that the “complicated” design of the Siren milk dispenser made it difficult to clean.
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“Waszak believed that the Siren’s complex design, and the inability of employees to properly clean the milk machine, increased the likelihood of maggots or other contaminants growing on the machines and, creating a health and safety hazard for Starbucks customers and employees,” the lawsuit reads.
In September 2023, a Siren milk dispenser also caught fire while being used by baristas at the Tryer Center. Starbucks later determined that the fire was caused by a manufacturing problem involving faulty wiring. However, the lawsuit states that at the time of the fire, “Siren was already being tested at several test stores in the Seattle area, and milk dispensers from the same manufacturer were being used by store baristas.”
The maggots came from an overhead milking machine, Waszak alleged in the lawsuit. (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Waszak discussed Siren’s health and safety risk with his manager, Vice President of Global Affairs Natarajan Venkatakrishnan, who reported to him since 2018, according to the lawsuit.
Waszak was terminated in December 2023.
