Former Starbucks exec says she was fired after raising concerns over maggots, safety: lawsuit

A former Starbucks executive is suing the coffee giant, alleging she was wrongfully fired after raising safety concerns about new store equipment.

Janice Waszak accused the coffee giant of wrongful termination and sex discrimination. She claims Starbucks fired her after she raised concerns about the safety and functionality of a proprietary equipment system known as the Siren System.

Starbucks argued that the claims are “entirely without merit.”

Starbucks publicly announced the Siren system to investors in 2022, claiming that it would significantly increase productivity in Starbucks stores and expand the company’s revenue and profit margin, the lawsuit stated. However, “after further testing, Waszak learned Siren had several defects that created health and safety risks,” the suit stated, adding that Waszak “realized that Siren might never be profitable and could lead to deep financial losses for the company.” 

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Waszak alleged in the lawsuit that she was fired in “retaliation for reporting and opposing its materially false or misleading statements about Siren’s profitability and health and safety risks.” The court documents further alleged that Starbucks also “discriminated against Waszak based on her sex when it allegedly terminated her for inter-personal behaviors for which it has not discharged male employees.” 

“Safety is a top priority for Starbucks, and these claims are entirely without merit,” Starbucks said in a statement, adding that Waszak “was separated from the company after an investigation into allegations that her conduct violated Starbucks workplace conduct policies.” 

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The company said it looked forward to presenting “evidence in court.”

According to the lawsuit, problems arose when Starbucks conducted a live demonstration of Siren for a large group of district managers and regional directors at the Tryer Center in October 2022. During the demonstration, “maggots dropped out of the overhead milk dispenser and fell onto the counter and beverages,” according to the lawsuit. The documents also alleged that “baristas flicked the maggots away to avoid attendees seeing them.” 

Waszak claimed that she “later learned that the maggots had bred in Siren’s milk dispenser because it was improperly cleaned,” according to the suit. 

Waszak also alleged that Starbucks’s staff also told her that they were concerned that the “complicated” design of Siren’s milk dispenser made it difficult to clean.

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“Waszak believed Siren’s complicated design, and staff’s inability to clean the milk dispenser properly, exacerbated the potential for maggots or other contaminants to grow in the equipment again, creating health and safety risks for Starbucks’s customers and staff,” the lawsuit read. 

In September 2023, the Siren milk dispenser also caught fire while it was being used by baristas at the Tryer Center. Starbucks later determined that the fire had been caused by a manufacturing defect involving faulty wiring. However, the lawsuit states that at the time of the fire, the “Siren was already being tested in several Seattle-area test stores, and milk dispensers from the same manufacturer were being used by store baristas.” 

Waszak discussed Siren’s health and safety risks with her superior, Vice President of Global Equipment Natarajan Venkatakrishnan, whom she reported to since 2018, according to the suit.