A lawsuit claims some Starbucks workers in New York City were so rude to deaf customers they mocked them and called the police to try to get them kicked out.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for what's described as multiple occasions of abuse.
It was filed last week in federal court in Manhattan on behalf of 12 people. It says one Starbucks Corp. employee laughed hysterically at a plaintiff's speech. It says others objected to a monthly meeting of a group of deaf people called Deaf Chat Coffee and called police.
Starbucks spokeswoman Jamie Riley says the Seattle-based company takes the allegations seriously and is investigating. She says the coffeemaker doesn't tolerate discrimination at its stores and values its track record of hiring and serving members of the deaf community.