Starbucks Beats Suit Over Pesticide Exposure at Manhattan Stores

Starbucks Corp. defeated a lawsuit by pest control contractors seeking emotional distress damages for their exposure to toxins at the company’s Manhattan locations because it owed them no duty to guard against the hazard, a federal trial court said.

Identifying and removing pest control strips containing toxic pesticides was part of the job Paul D’Auria and Jill Shwiner performed for Starbucks, and the hazards presented by the substances were inherent and foreseeable, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said.

D’Auria and Shwiner, employees of AVP Termite & Pest Control of New York Inc., alleged they ...