Starbucks Defeats Brazilian Coffee Workers’ Forced Labor Claims

Starbucks Corp. is free of a lawsuit alleging it ran afoul of anti-trafficking law when it purchased coffee from a Brazil-based supplier that allegedly sourced beans from farms using forced labor.

The workers argued that the Seattle-based coffee chain should have to face their lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia because Starbucks markets and sells its beverages in DC. But they failed to link their injuries in Brazil to those sales, Judge Beryl A. Howell said Tuesday, dismissing the case for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Federal prosecutions for forced labor are rare, making victims’ ability ...