For over two months now, Starbucks has been in the middle of a controversy which could tarnish its reputation. Indeed, the Ethiopian government and Oxfam are accusing the company of having intervened with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), through the National Coffee Association of USA (NCA), so that it would dismiss the trademark applications made by Ethiopia for two of its most prestigious coffees. According to the humanitarian organization, by objecting to Ethiopia’s acquisition of the property rights of these names, Starbucks is depriving the Ethiopian farmers, who have a hard time providing for themselves, of approximately 88 million dollars in additional income per year. For Seth Petchers of Oxfam, who was quoted by the newspaper Le Monde, “Harar and Sidamo coffees are sold by Starbucks at 24 and 26 dollars per pound. The farmers who farm them receive between 60 cents and 1.10 dollar per pound.” Approximately fifteen million people depend on the coffee industry in Ethiopia. Starbucks denies having played a role in the refusal of the request by the USPTO.

On January 11, 2007, a federal judge has granted the status of class action to a lawsuit for gender discrimination initiated against Costco Wholesale back in 2004. The plaintiffs support that women who wish to accede to managerial positions are victims of systemic discrimination; only 12.9% of store managers and 16.6% of manager assistants are women, while they represent 45% of the retailer’s workforce. All American Costco employees, current or former, who, since January 3, 2002, consider that they were denied promotions because of their gender can be represented in this lawsuit.

On December 28, 2006, the motion of the Air Canada Pilots Association seeking, to block one or more special distributions of up to two billion dollars to ACE Aviation shareholders, Air Canada’s parent company, was denied. The organization intends to dispute this decision returned by an Ontario Superior Court judge.