Starbucks Breastfeeding Case Summary

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Starbuck is now confronted with breastfeeding issue. Many women are protesting against us in public and it is bringing a negative media attention to our business.
We must find a solution to satisfy legislators, business clientele and appease breastfeeding advocates and mothers, as well as to protect our market share and our shareholders.
This memo highlights recommended actions to handle the "Nurse-in" issue we faced in August 2004 in our Maryland Starbucks coffee shop.

As you know, the breastfeeding issue began in July 2004:
- Several customers complained to one of our employees about a mother, Lorig Charkoudian, breastfeeding her 15-month-old child in our Maryland coffee shop.
- Our employee asked the Charkoudian to relocate to the bathroom or to cover up as she breastfed.
- Charkoudian felt insulted and started …show more content…

They will not give up until they obtain satisfaction.
We want to address this “breastfeeding” issue immediately before it escalates to the similar problem we have seen with Dorosin.
The principal stakeholders here are the customers, divided in two segments: mothers who breastfeed and other customers who do not want to see a mother breastfeeding.
The public should know the law and govern themselves accordingly. The law states that it is very much legal that mothers can breastfeed in public and if they have a problem they should avert their eyes, relocate to a different part of the restaurant or leave.

Because we should not discriminate against any customer, there is a reasonable way for Starbucks to satisfy all customer segments. Here are my recommendations:
- Adopt an official policy toward breastfeeding throughout all the stores nationwide: Since almost all the states have laws that specifically allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location, it makes sense to uniform our own regulation at the corporate level right

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