Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has dropped an administrative case involving allegations that Starbucks improperly used race-based hiring practices — but indicated he will pursue the issue in state or federal court.

Administrative Law Judge Robert Telfer on Monday issued an order closing a case that former Attorney General Ashley Moody filed last year. Telfer's order came after Uthmeier's office on Nov. 26 said it was dismissing the administrative case.

Moody, who is now a U.S. senator, in May 2024 filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations alleging that Starbucks had policies that "appear on their face to be racial quotas." But after an investigation, the commission's executive director in November 2024 issued a determination that there was "no reasonable cause" to believe that the Seattle-based coffee company violated a state anti-discrimination law.

Moody, however, continued pursuing the issue at the state Division of Administrative Hearings.

Starbucks last month filed a motion to dismiss the administrative case, saying the state did not not "identify any person in Florida who should be awarded the unspecified monetary relief sought by the OAG (Office of the Attorney General), nor does it identify any injury to such person — for example, an adverse employment action against the individual or a comparator to raise an inference that such action was motivated by discrimination. Instead, the OAG seeks to proceed solely based on speculation that respondent's (Starbucks') goals or initiatives theoretically could give rise to discrimination."

In the Nov. 26 notice dismissing the case, Uthmeier's office disputed Starbucks' arguments but said the attorney general "believes that the most prudent course is to sue directly in either state or federal court. Doing so would preserve the resources of the parties and the agency and would help to put an end to respondent's illegal discrimination by the earliest possible date."