Starbucks Consumer Settles ‘Ethically Sourced’ Cocoa Lawsuit

A Starbucks Corp. consumer has settled her claims alleging the coffeehouse chain deceptively advertised hot chocolate as “ethically sourced” despite the use of child slave labor, according to filings in a California federal court.

Last year, the US District Court for the Central District of California allowed the proposed class action to advance, saying Lori Myers raised viable claims.

• Myers challenged labels that described Starbucks hot chocolate as “made with ethically sourced cocoa.” She alleged that child slavery is endemic to the chocolate trade, that it’s therefore difficult or impossible to produce chocolate without labor from child slaves, and that ...