On April 4, the first day of Howard Schultz’s third go-round as chief executive officer of Starbucks Corp., he set the tone with an espresso tasting. Dozens of baristas gathered in rows at the company’s headquarters in Seattle, while many more joined from across the country via livestream. First, the assembled took a collective slurp of coffee. “Full-bodied, bold—to me, that’s representative of who we are,” said Michelle Burns, the executive who oversees coffee sourcing. Next, an employee named Fen Tapley led the crowd in an impromptu protest against Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law: “Gay! Gay! ...
