SEATTLE — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com
Former Starbucks Vice President Janice Waszak filed a wrongful termination and sex discrimination lawsuit against Starbucks Monday, claiming she was fired for reporting accurate information about a faulty product.
The complaint alleged that Starbucks illegally fired her after she refused to report false information regarding the profitability, health, and safety risks of Starbucks “Siren System,” according to court documents.
The Siren System was a piece of equipment designed to enable a barista to make any drink in 40 seconds or less. In 2022, Starbucks unveiled the new system to investors, claiming it would significantly increase the company’s profitability and efficiency.
In March 2022, the Senior Vice President of Partner and Customer Solutions, Natarajan Venkatakrishnan, presented the Siren System to senior executives. Two executives pushed back on the financial projections, with at least one executive claiming Venkatakrishnan used false and misleading numbers.
By June 2022, both executives were no longer employed by Starbucks. Venkatakrishnan allegedly bragged to Waszak that he “brought about” the termination of both executives because they had spoken against him, according to the complaint.
Maggots allegedly discovered during equipment demonstration
Waszak oversaw Starbucks’ testing of the new Siren System, which began in April 2022. During a live demonstration of the Siren System for district and regional managers on October 27, 2022, maggots had allegedly fallen out of the system’s milk dispenser and were flicked away by baristas to prevent customers from seeing them, according to the complaint.
Later on, Waszak claimed she learned that the maggots had bred inside the Siren System’s milk dispenser due to improper cleaning by Starbucks’ staff.
Waszak believed that the system’s complicated design and the staff’s inability to clean the equipment properly potentially created health and safety risks for customers and staff, ultimately leading to large financial losses for Starbucks.
Around August 2023, Waszak claimed she learned from a store testing team that the Siren System’s in-store test results were poor, and the system’s milk dispenser was not being properly cleaned.
Team members also allegedly told Waszak they were afraid to report accurate test results to Venkatakrishnan for fear that he would “get mad,” according to the complaint.
During testing on September 7, 2023, Waszak also allegedly witnessed the Siren System catch fire while being used by baristas at Starbucks’ Tryer Innovation Center.
Waszak later reported her concerns about the Siren System to company executives, who, in turn, terminated her “in retaliation for reporting and opposing materially false or misleading statements about the Siren System’s profitability and health and safety risks,” she claimed, according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleged that Starbucks discriminated against Waszak based on her sex, due to her termination for interpersonal behaviors that hadn’t resulted in the termination of a male employee.
Starbucks’ internal investigation also determined that there were no grounds for Waszak’s termination.
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