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Starbucks sues a former executive over $830K

The coffee shop giant claims that a former senior vice president left only after a few months and didn’t earn his full sign-on bonus.
Starbucks
Starbucks is suing one of its former SVPs over a sign-on bonus. | Photo by Jonathan Maze.

Starbucks is accusing a former executive of failing to repay most of a sign-on bonus after he left the company in just a few months. 

The Seattle-based coffee shop giant filed a lawsuit this week in a New Jersey federal court against Alan Rosa, who spent a few months in early 2023 as Starbucks’ senior vice president of infrastructure and foundational services. 

Rosa accepted an offer to work with Starbucks in December 2022 and started with the company the following January. As part of his offer he was given a $1 million sign-on bonus. 

According to Starbucks, the agreement required he remain with the company for two years. If he left within two years, he would be required to return a prorated portion of the bonus, based on a calculation of 730 working days. 

Rosa quit his job with Starbucks the following May. According to the lawsuit, that means Rosa owes Starbucks $830,136.99 based on when he left. 

The company contacted him in April of last year, asking him to repay the bonus, according to court documents. And at one point the following May, Rosa vowed to repay the overpaid bonus. But he stopped responding to the company afterwards. Eventually, Starbucks filed its lawsuit. 

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