An appeals court has ruled that Starbucks Corp. doesn't have to reveal the names of past job applicants with pot convictions on their record.

The company requires applicants to mention any past marijuana drug crime convictions on their applications.  The California class-action attorneys at our firm had represented three individuals who had applied for a job at Starbucks.   The three plaintiffs claimed  $26 million in damages.  However, the three were deemed ineligible to head the lawsuit because they had no marijuana convictions mentioned in their application.

The court also ruled that Starbucks should pore through its 135,000 job applications, and find a random 25 applicants with marijuana convictions mentioned in their applications.  These applicants would then be included in the California class-action.  Starbucks could contact the applicants, giving them notice that they could choose to opt out of having their names read out. 

However, a California appeals court has now ruled that Starbucks does not have to identify potential plaintiffs.  The court has held that the very act of Starbucks identifying these applicants violates their rights to privacy.

The California class-action lawyers at our firm are now looking for people who applied for jobs at Starbucks in the past and mentioned marijuana convictions on their applications.  If you had applied for a job at Starbucks in the past, and have mentioned your prior marijuana convictions on the form, then you may be eligible to be a class-action representative.  You must know that is illegal for a potential employer to ask you to note down a marijuana conviction in a job application.  Companies should not be able to get away with asking for private and confidential information from applicants.