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Brazilians Sue Starbucks Over Alleged 'Slavery-Like' Conditions at Coffee Supplier
The Guardian
|April 25, 2025
"John" was just days from turning 16 when he was allegedly recruited to work on a Brazilian coffee farm that supplies Starbucks.
Soon after his birthday, he embarked on a 16-hour bus journey to the farm in the state of Minas Gerais - only to discover that none of what he had been promised would be fulfilled.
Unpaid and without protective equipment such as boots and gloves, he worked under a scorching sun from 5:30 am to 6 pm with only a 20-minute lunch break, until he was rescued in a raid by Brazilian authorities last June. A report from that operation concluded that John had been subjected to "child labour in hazardous conditions", and that he and other workers had been "trafficked and subjected to slavery-like conditions".
This week, John and seven other Brazilian workers - all identified simply as John Doe 1-8 for fear of retaliation - filed a civil lawsuit in the US against the global coffeehouse chain, with the support of International Rights Advocates (IRA), seeking financial compensation for the harm they allege to have suffered.
This story is from the April 25, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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