NY Starbucks Workers Owed Reimbursement for Uniform Maintenance Costs, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action claims that Starbucks does not provide certain employees with an adequate supply of uniforms despite requiring the workers to cover uniform cleaning costs out of pocket.

The 11-page case alleges Starbucks has failed to pay its New York baristas, dishwashers, and porters uniform maintenance pay or reimbursement for the cost of maintaining their uniforms, which the suit says is illegal under the New York Code of Rules and Regulations. 

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The plaintiff, a barista at a New York Starbucks, claims the company has provided her with just two aprons and one hat that it wants clean at the start of her shifts scheduled five to six days a week.

“During each shift, the work performed, caused the uniform to require washing in order to be ready to be worn for the next [work shift],” the filing explains. “Often, the shirt required heavy washing to address stains from grease and other food items.”

Because Starbucks does not offer to clean its required uniforms or pay for cleaning costs, the plaintiff spent her own money to clean her aprons at a laundromat and hand-washed the uniform at home, the case relays.

According to the plaintiff, Starbucks supervisors discipline or reprimand employees who wear visibly dirty aprons to work, so workers would attempt to spot-clean their uniform in the bathroom “or risk being written up or being sent home.”

Per the complaint, Starbucks’ alleged misconduct is “widespread, repeated, and consistent” and has left the plaintiff and similarly situated employees, who are supposedly paid at or near minimum wage, uncompensated or under-compensated for their time and money spent maintaining the company’s uniform.

The plaintiff and proposed class members seek to recover the unpaid wages they are entitled to under New York law, the case states.

The lawsuit looks to represent all baristas, porters, dishwashers and other hourly employees who have been required to wear a uniform while working for Starbucks Coffee Company in New York within the past six years.

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