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VANCOUVER, B.C, June 27, 2003: Starbucks could be facing two human rights complaints from two Indo-Canadian employees fired for refusing to remove a nose stud. Aisha Syed, who was fired last November after working at Starbucks for three years, has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal. “I’m very upset, and I see my firing as racism,” said Syed, 25, a graduate of the University of B.C. “The nose stud is an expression of my Indian identify.” In her complaint Syed alleges her dismissal amounts to discrimination on the grounds of race, ancestry and sex. A second employee of South Asian descent, Benita Singh, was fired last week for refusing to remove a stud. She is considering filing a complaint with the tribunal. The two firings clash with Starbucks’ claim that it practices diversity in its human resources policy, said Syed’s lawyer, Lisa Fong. The lawyer said Starbucks has a Diversity Statement” that says, “At Starbucks, diversity is a way of life.” The coffee company also has a mission statement that declares more than 60 percent of its total work force should be people from minorities and /or women and that Starbucks actively recruits from job fairs focused on minorities, women and people with disabilities. “Yet, their dismissing South Asian women for wearing nose rings or nose studs which are symbolic of their culture, is contradictory to this goal and detrimental to these women.” Starbucks has refused to comment, says this article, other than to release its dress code policy, which forbids its employees to wear pierced jewelry or ornaments on their face. The stated goal of Starbucks’ dress code is to provide the company with a consistent look. HPI adds: Some years back two similar cases regarding nose studs occured with Indian-American high school students. The resolution of those cases is not known.

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