Deaf People Accuse Starbucks of Discrimination

Mocked and refused service in New York City, lawsuit claims

Starbucks discriminates against deaf people in New York City by refusing to serve them, ejecting them and making fun of the way they speak, 12 customers claim in Federal Court.

The plaintiffs, most of whom are deaf and use sign language, claim the discrimination occurred repeatedly at more than one Starbucks in New York City.

Plaintiff Alan Roth describes an August 2012 incident in which a Starbucks employee on Park Avenue South "stated that he sounded funny," asked him to repeat himself and laughed hysterically at his way of communicating.