ST. LOUIIS (KMOX) - Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Starbucks because of who the company hires.
In the lawsuit, Bailey alleges Starbucks has violated federal and state laws prohibiting race discrimination by ties its compensation to racial and sex-based quotas.
KMOX Legal Analyst Brad Young joined KMOX News Wednesday morning to give his thoughts on the lawsuit.
"The lawsuit was filed because of, ostensibly, DEI programs and that the way it's being promoted in the news," said Young on 'Total Information A.M.' "Because of the DEI programs at Starbucks, the Missouri Attorney General has filed a lawsuit."
Young says Bailey's lawsuit against Starbucks is a 'reverse discrimination' lawsuit, and it's a type of lawsuit he has seen for many years.
The suit also claims consumers in Missouri would pay lower prices and wait less time for service if the most qualified workers were behind the counter.
However, Young thinks Bailey will have a tough time proving that in court.
"The only way to prove that would be to show because individuals are being excluded for hiring, then stores would have fewer employees, leading to longer wait times," said Young. "Other individuals would have to be paid overtime to compensate for lack of employees. So therefore, prices would have to be raised because of the overtime pay."
"While that may work in theory, I think that's going to be extremely difficult to prove in reality. And that's what discovery are for and litigation."
46% of employees that work at Starbucks nationally are people of color.