A group of eight workers from Brazil is suing Starbucks, over claims that they were subjected to "slavery-like conditions" by a supplier for the coffee giant.

According to The Guardian, one of the workers — identified as "John" for fear of retaliation — described how days after he turned 16, he was recruited to work on a Brazilian coffee farm that supplies Starbucks. John was then taken on a 16-hour journey by bus to the farm, where he worked unpaid for more than 10 hours a day with one 20-minute lunch break, in scorching weather without protective equipment. Brazilian authorities rescued John and others in a June 2024 raid, and determined that workers on the farm had been illegally trafficked and used as "child labor in hazardous conditions." 

On April 24, NGO Coffee Watch also filed a complaint with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, asking it to bar Starbucks and other major companies from importing coffee products linked to forced labor in Brazil. In its complaint, Coffee Watch asserts that a series of instances in recent years where workers in slavery-like conditions were rescued from Brazilian farms represents "the tip of the iceberg." Brazil has been the world's largest coffee producer since the 19th century, while the industry has the country's highest number of workers rescued from debt bondage, excessive hours, lack of payment or degrading accommodations. 

"Thousands of people have been found in those conditions by Brazilian authorities, and clearly what has been done 'til now is not solving the problem,” Coffee Watch founder and director Etelle Higonnet told The Guardian.

The lawsuit from workers and Coffee Watch's complaint both claim that even after rescue operations were conducted at farms, Starbucks and others continued to import coffee from those suppliers. In a written statement, a Starbucks spokesperson said that the company uses a verification program for suppliers "that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee-growing practices."