Starbucks must pay $100m tips back

Is this the real reason they closed their collective doors for "re-training" a way's back? Private meetings to address the illegalities of tip sharing and such? If someone reading this is a Starbucks employee, past or present, I'd love to read your take on this ruling.

Didn't know they supported murdering people! Thanks!

yes bro....you should look into the guy that started starbucks and look into his background and how much money he sends to isreal.. his stance on isreal and views on the palestinian issue. youd be amazed.

Day late and a dollar short. No more starbucks!

its all good mang!! sorry if it sounded like i was being a dick...i read that back to myself, and it looked like it..so im sorry bro.

Glad to hear about the tips, that's nice. But, Jesus, this company has become such a scapegoat! You'd think Starbucks was the worst company in the world from all of the hating that goes on. But that's so far from the reality it's absurd. It's just EASY and COMFORTABLE and CONVENIENT to hate Starbucks.

What I would love to know is which companies is it OK to patronize? Are there any at all, or am I supposed to make all my own coffee, food, clothes, shoes and media? What should I put in my gas tank? Where should I get my plastic products?

And, yeah, Israel does a lot of bad shit. But I am thinking that quite possibly some Palestinians are not angels, either. I mean, is that possible? Or is Palestinian terrorism nothing but Israeli propaganda?

Flame war commence.

bro im not going to flame you, but what is the genesis of the so called palestinian terrorism? before you ask for my answer, research that. and if you say the stupid " oh they have been fighting for 2 thousand years and they are going to keep fighting" i will have to tell you that as a muslim myself...my faith hasnt been around for 2 thousand years yet, and second from the time it was established, um jews and muslims have not fought each other. if you knew your history, you would know that muslims and jews fought TOGETHER during the crusades!!!

before zionism brought jews back to palestine..there was harmony. up until say 1930ish...there was harmony. after the war that the JEWS STARTED there was heat...and its been hot ever since. when the west sided with isreal, but the un constantly chided them, there was heat. when people were and are still removed from their villages so isrealis can now live there, in nice houses...palestinians are attacked and called terrorists. isreal has violated over 63 un resolutions or whatever they are called involving ethnic clensing and human rights violations, and the us supports them....and starbucks provides money to the gov to further suppress the palestinians. so yea not because i am a muslim, but because i am a HUMAN BEING, i am not giving my money to starbucks. Id rather see the president of starbucks die in a car wreck than give his punk ass money. as to who you should patronize, brother thats up to you. but knowing what they are all about, its now up to you to make that decision as to whether you support that bullshit. if its all about....well this one cup isnt going to hurt anything....and i really want some coffee...well thats for your to be fine with, but understand that you can get 8 bullets for every penny. 8 X $3.69 for a tall carmel machiatto ...is 2952 bullets in a 32 bullet carrying m-16, thats 92 clips. each soldier might carry say 4 clips.....so your tall carmel machiatto will adequately arm 23 soldiers. two squads, or with only 3 clips a whole platoon of over 30 men. now the idf is very proficient at killing palestinians....they do it EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! so even if only 10% of the bullets hit their mark....thats still 295 people shot. hell lets say the idf platoon sucks....and only gets 1% thats still 30 people shot! and if only say 10% of those people are killed....which is better than the fake 8% killed in iraq...well brother ..thats still 3 people killed per carmel machiatto!

now not all of the money that starbucks makes goes to killing....say its only 15% which is actually pretty reasonable well then it would take at least 37 carmel machiattos to kill 1 palestinian. each starbucks sells how many per day? hundreds.

so if your carmel machiatto is the 37th one...congrats...you just murdered a palestinian!

if you care to check my math...feel free, i just checked...and im off just a little. bullets are about 120 per penny

my source...the United nations est. 2006 estimating the cost of weapons in africa.

i know africa is different than isreal, but isreal gets their weapons from the united states, and you think they arent getting cut a deal?

i dont feel sorry for starbucks corporation owners, but i do feel for the poor working baristas. i worked at starbucks ten years ago, and it sucked having to share my tips. these people are only getting minimum wage. i worked at a location where i wasn't even allowed to collect tips since it was at a bookstore! I think thats so messed up! Customers wanted to tip me but i wasn't allowed to receive the tips. i'm glad baristas are gettin some dough for this mess...they deserve it for their hard work. starbucks should kick down with some extra dough if you know what i mean....jerk offs...

Okinawanmajik - you know what? You are a muslim, do you want to kill us non-Muslims?

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but my guess is no.

Israel wants land - and it appears they do not want the Muslim world to advance and develop - at least not without being able to control them. The hostility they provoke is their pitiful justification and claim to a "moral high ground", hoping and believing the ignorant (in their opinion) non-Jewish masses of the world are too stupid to notice, always playing the Holocaust card. Never mind they are the perpetrators of the ongoing modern Holocaust of the Palestinians and Lebanese.

hell no i dont really want anyone to die....thats my point. but yea, isreal pimps the west constantly and they get away with it because of one main issue that no one really expresses......because many nations dont want them there too. in europe, during the diaspora, boat loads of jews going to palestine were strafed by the RAF, or sunk by the RAF. there were times when the british refused ships that were loaded with jews from coming to port in palestine, but received orders to not allow them to return to england, so they sunk the ship! over all, europe didnt care so much about the plight of the jews, and that facilitated them being able to steal palestine for themselves. the west deserves everything it gets for doing what its doing. but no voyager, i dont want people to die..i dont wanna kill you...or non muslims. me being a muslim is a personal decision, my little girl is catholic!

but what does anger me is the stupidity of americans as they act as if they know about us, saying dumb shit about the women and how they dress, as if its oppressive (the women want to wear that) they confuse what they want, thinking all muslims are like the taliban..well then are all christians like mormans? or like jerry fallwells dipshit ass? or like jahovas witnesses? or crazy ass 7th day adventes'?

overall it angers me how people dont stand up for what it right....because its not convenient ....star bucks actively murders human beings. its like if you knew arkansas was killing people everyday, and arkansas makes pillows...and the proceeds they get goes to killing people...would you still buy pillows knowing that thats what is facilitating the killing? no i would hope not.

im an informed consumer, but its not enough to just stop purchasing from them, its everyone who knows whats going on's responsibility to inform those who dont. with that knowledge, its up to them to determind if life is worth saving? or is it only worth it if they are christian or jewish?

thats the prevailing american position...i mean, americans didnt even care if african americans lived or died, so why care about another group of brown people that live somewhere else, and are of another faith? thats what i think

Voyager, the idea that you would compare Israeli violence against Palestinians and Lebanese to the Holocaust just makes me want to throw up. That is so completely off the mark, not to mention shockingly racist and utterly shameful and offensive. In fact, I'm just going to pretend you didn't say it.

Okinawanmajik, I think it's dangerous to claim moral high ground and then go off about Jew this and Jew that - as you know, Israeli citizens are no more monolithic in their views than are Palestinians (that is, I'm agreeing that one cannot make sweeping generalizations about Jews, Muslims or Christians and their beliefs, because they're too various).

But it's also a bit too late for either side to cite history and talk about who has a claim to what land because of who was where first. My opinion is that that shit don't matter anymore. Violence on both sides matters, Isareli occupation and oppression matters as much as Palestinian violence and terror, but regardless of what has happened in the past, both sides need to put down their fucking guns and agree to share. Period. And I think there are plenty of people on both sides who desperately want to do that and plenty on both sides who would rather die than make peace. As long as that's the case - as long as both Israelis and Palestinians continue this supremely idiotic contest over this tiny strip of holy desert, regardless of who may have started it (obviously a subject of great dispute but certainly a childish defense), both sides are going to suffer and suffer and hate and hate and die and die.

And, dude, if you think that all Muslim women who wear the hijab WANT to do so you're out of your fucking mind. If the choice is wear the hijab or you're going to get the living shit beaten out of you, YOU would wear the hijab, too. I mean, don't get me started. While it is absolutely not true of all Muslims, the majority of whom are peaceful people, and while many Muslim women DO choose to wear it, the sad fact, as you are surely aware, is that in many countries in which Islam is the main (or only) religion allowed, women are treated like shit, by law, by custom and by Islam. To deny this, or to assert that these women choose to be treated like chattel, is blind nonsense. I'm talking about Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Afghanistan - the list goes on and on. Yes, not all Muslims are like this, I'll say it again - but far too many are.

Blazesboy - I guess it depends on whether you believe killing individuals is a justifiable means to an end? I don't, under any circumstance.

I am not against an independent Israeli state, I am against murder in the name of anything.

My "racism" as you've incorrectly characterized it, if you prefer to characterize it in that manner, is "racism" against killing people - for what ever flavor you choose to side with.

I side with civility, with compassion, with the preservation of human life - so, your position of it's alright to kill those you disagree with; that there is no moral imperative to seek understanding; to communicate; to preserve life and see the innocence in all humans, does place us in opposition.

I think I'm right, you think your right. The difference is, I won't kill you, but you believe it's okay to kill me because we are in opposition and see things differently.

How many have lost their lives in the middle east as a result of Israel's desire to monopolize the area - let's say, since the early part of the 1900's to now?

How many lives does it take to be a horrific crime perpetrated against any group? Semantics? Save your precious breath B-Boy. You've poorly masked your own egocentric racism and hatred in your efforts by picking on semantics since the position you hold in opposition to mine is not only indefensible, it's not popular in the United States and most of the world either - and you know it.

Be honest about what your position is here, don't beat around the bush like a little girl (no offense intended to my daughter or little girls). Don't play childish games with words B-Boy. If you feel I used the wrong word, phrase or terminology, you are welcomed to offer your opinion, but to hide aggression behind an issue of semantics? Come on!

The truth is, you'd rather not accept or acknowledge a reality you don't understand (and worse yet, one that threatens or is at odds with the beliefs of your support system). Rather than challenge your own beliefs and mis-understanding, you insist on being right. You know, you can be right, and still be wrong.

and i ask you to quote any part of what i said that says i detests jews or otherwise.

comparing what isreal is doing to the palestinians is tantamount to genocide or holocaust...or whatever..i think jews need to stop using holocaust, because it used to say....well there was an attempt to exterminate us....which may be true, but the turks did as well, with the armenians. jews would go ape shit if armenians used that, because jews think they have the market cornered on that term.

my issue is with ISREALIS the ISREALI government. just like i cant stand america..but i am seminole and west indian...do i hate the actual country? no i hate the government and those people that support it as well as the social issues that accurately describe this country....I cant stand australia..but australian chicks are hot!!

as for the hajab, you are right, just like some men dont like the fuck with a condom, but the woman who is controlling the sex says "if you want it, you gotta suit up! " my point is yes there are women that dont wanna wear it...but to act as if it is the faith that is making them do it would be slightly incorrect.

its the male dominated societies that are prevalent in islamic cultures that is more to blame than the faith its self. the quran as well as the bible and old testament say that both men and women should cover (thats why jews wear yamikas and women wear hats, and nuns wear that head dilly) arab men cover their heads as well.

so the so called oppression of women is more the fact that the cultures are pretty chauvenistic and not so much demeaning to women. go to iran, so called modernized women that want to express their sexuality im sure dont wanna cover. if you knew the history of the islamic revolution, you would know what the issue is in iran..with regards to the SHAH..(ill allow you to research that...he outlawed overt displays of islam...including covering and made the women wear western clothes...clothes that they didnt want to wear. go to turkey with that argument...women protested because the prevailing law is that women cannot go into gov buildings covered, and when a female politician was elected, she was told she could not cover while making her oath...she refused. the gov backed down! (turkey wants so much to be a part of europe that doesnt really want them, because of the asswhoopings the turks/ottomans gave them in WWI)

sure i agree with you in some respects, and i thank you for giving an intelligent argument, but i have and will never say jews because that would be wrong..and as far as it being racist....no i would have to agree with voyager...its about whats right. not supporting killing no matter who is doing it, but i am about defending yourself. but with defending yourself, there is a right side and a wrong side....isreal is on the wrong side of the so called defending our right to exist argument. they do, but they also dont have the right to keep moving pals to keep building settlements, with even larger buffer zones just so when that final agreement is made, the palestinians will have even less land. you know thats what they are doing. we went to war with iraq over UN resolutions...well isreal has violated EVERY SINGLE UN RESOLUTION EVER HANDED DOWN yet no one does anything. the un's position is that isreal is conducting genocide and ethnic cleansing...and isreal could care less because it has the US for support. in this argument, if anyone has to die...id rather it be the isrealis for their actions. they are to blame, as much as the us for supplying them with money and munitions FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF SUPPRESSING THE PALESTINIANS!! NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS. we have to pay taxes....we dont have to pay starbucks!

I spend about $10.00 + a week at Starbucks. I will no longer. This is not the United States of Israel. I do not support the current administration, it is not the United States of Whatever-Bush-wants-to-do.

No one should deprive another of their God given, inalienable right to life, liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness - regardless the country they live in. To do so, to attempt to monopolize power, control or influence at the expense of life is an abomination, and an act of vengeance against which ever God you salute.

Vote for Obama!

Pretty good stuff here.

can i get a large coffee,I don't speak fretallian.
f*&k venti go back to your country you hippie.

Alright. I am a current barista in a local PA starbucks. Now i looked into the case and this class action suit is based on this former worker's saying that its an injustice for shift leads to recieve tips. Managers and anyone higher are not included in the tips anyways. Now, shift leads do the same as baristas do on a daily basis. They make drinks, do all the same kind of other labor, they just have a little more power, and with it some added responsibility. These shift leads work registers and make drinks with the baristas, which is where are tips are given and what the tip-giving is based on. I strongly oppose the suit and what its based on. I respect my fellow workers and their right to tips as the same as mine. ALSO, though many of Starbucks actions can be called into question in some regards, there are still many aspects of the corporation that that can be applauded. They provide health care benefits to part-time workers (who qualify with hours), they only affiliate through retail and food and beverage companies they agree with on different aspects with regard to environmnetal impact and such. They lead in many similar companies with leading the way towards expanding their impact on the environment through going green in many different ways, like using wind power for different stores nationwide, they pay growers on average, 10 cents or so more than other companies do, they are avid practicers of free-trade-certified coffee since 2000, and i wouldn't work there if i didn't agree on so many levels with what they do practice.
For the record, the 2-hour meeting that we had where we closed stores nation-wide was in order to "bring us back to our roots" as howard shultz said on some videos we saw that night. We went over some customer service stuff, talked about focusing more on perfecting the way we make drinks, and by the end of the night, each store was supposed to write up a collective mission statement.
I personally see my treatment their as fine. It's a job, not the best pay, not amazingly accomodating, but it is fair and gives enough leeway to meet my expectations.

I'm not a coffee nut. But I knew when some pimple faced geek had to explain the menu and then gave me what I referred to as "burnt" coffee, I would never do business there again. It's a shame they can't find a way to do business. BTY, there are companies out there that specialize in selling coffee that is purchased dreictly from growers at a fair price...look and you will find...probably even "double roasted" (burnt) coffee...oh yeah...I asked for my money back and told the manager he was daft if he thought a pound of sugar would make that burnt flavor right...never got it never will...

I hate that Starducks wastes soooooo much paper in those disposable coffee cups and sleeves.

Just when we thought we were saving a few tress in this world via the internet reducing the volume of trees consumed for news, we get something like Starducks.

Starducks does not RECYCLE THE COFFEE CUPS! Nor the other corporate coffee slingers.

What say you B-Boy?

VoyagerFilms I noticed that you accused Blazesboy of saying that he feels "it's okay to kill me because we are in opposition and see things differently"

get your emotional over-reacting head out of your butt buddy. he never said anything CLOSE to that so you need to stick to the facts and not make outlandish assumptions.

Isrealis are killing palistinians. Palestinians are killing Isrealis. Why should I feel more sympathy towards either side? My Lattes kill Palestinian, Filling up my car with gas kills Jews (check out Saudi Arabian support of terrorism)

I am not shooting anybody so I dont want to hear that my caramel machiatto "killed a Palestinian"

Voyagerfilms, Okinwamanigic, this about Starbucks and the people who work there!!!!!!!,... it is shame full how you are using current as a platform to spread your BS.

I saw an article about greenhouse gas,... of course that would be the perfect place to bring up the Middle East conflict, your logic could be; Green is a common last name in Israel, therefore kill all the Israelis!

Please go back to Al Jazeera, and leave Current to progressive people who do not need ancient scriptures to teach us how to live.

O wait we need you to tell us how Hybrid cars have chips made in Israel therefore we should kill the Israeli's!

figures!?!

figures what? . this is about coffee and workers not killing people or firing rockets!

There are many corporations including Microsoft that support Israel i guess you should give up on using a computer.