Starbucks is in hot coffee today for two reasons: an allegation that a manager at a Long Island Starbucks berated a gay worker for his sexual orientation, and news that the chain's milk distributor plans to drop Jamaica, Queens-based Elmhurst Dairy and go with a non-union dairy conglomerate in Texas. The bias allegation stems from an incident witnessed by a customer at a Starbucks in Centereach, Long Island overheard a female manager allegedly forcing an employee, Jeffrey Warren, to resign because he is gay. In a blog post that has since gone viral and attracted widespread media attention, the witness writes: more ›

A grand jury today indicted the roommate of a Rutgers student who committed suicide after he realized that his homosexual encounter had been recorded on webcam. The 15-count indictment against Dharun Ravi, which you can read below, accuses the former Rutgers student of bias, invasion of privacy, witness and evidence tampering. Another student, Molly Wei, was not indicted "at this time"—prosecutors say Ravi watched roommate Tyler Clementi's liaison via webcam from Wei's dorm room. (Wei already faces invasion of privacy charges, but her charges have not been presented to the grand jury.) more ›

Bad news if you live on Ocean Parkway: your landlord might be racist. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has filed lawsuits against owners and managers of properties in Brooklyn and Glenville, Schenectady County, claiming an undercover investigation caught them refusing to rent or show apartments to black applicants. Cuomo said in a statement, "Our investigation found that housing discrimination continues to this day and landlords who continue to ignore the law will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." more ›

After discussing the intense scrutiny the Pope and Catholic Church has faced during his Palm Sunday homily, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan continued to hammer home his talking points as he headed into the Easter Weekend. During an appearance on Good Day, NY yesterday, Dolan said that while he welcomed the reporting of abusive priests and hangs his head in shame about it, he said terrible abuse occurs in "every religion, every culture, every family, every family... it's a cultural, societal problem." more ›

After posting about the mommy-tracking lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, we wondered where things stood with the Bloomberg LP discrimination suit, where a number of employees accused the media information services company of bias against employees who took maternity leave. Now we know: Three more plaintiffs have joined the class-action lawsuit. more ›

Police are investigating a possible hate crime that allegedly took place in Carroll Gardens shortly after 8 p.m on Tuesday, March 2nd. Investigators say the victim, an unnamed 22-year-old man, was severely beaten by five men shouting anti-gay slurs, near Luquer Street and Hamilton Avenue. He suffered "cuts to the back of his head and bad facial bruises," an NYPD source tells Fox. more ›

A Moroccan immigrant claims he has been barred from becoming a police officer because he's a Muslim and because he was not born in America. After passing the police exam in 2006 with a score of 85.6—"well above the passing grade"—Said Hajem's application "has been suspended in bureaucratic limbo," the Times reports. According to Hajem, that's because an officer reviewing his paperwork sabotaged his application because he didn't want people from "other countries" joining the NYPD. more ›

Two Upper East Side restaurants refuse to deliver uptown to East Harlem, but they willingly schlep longer distances downtown to service a more affluent and more white neighborhood. An investigation by the Post reveals that both Chinese Mirch on Second Avenue between 94th and 95th streets and One Fish Two Fish on Madison Avenue and 97th Street declined to deliver to addresses located 15 blocks to the north, but readily fulfilled orders 20 blocks to the south — a delivery discrepancy that "smacks of racism," according to state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem). "The difference between north and south is black and white," he said. more ›

Hate crime task force detectives Stephon Garland and Gregory Wilson, who are black, and detective Faisal Khan, who is Pakistani, were going door-to-door in Gravesend, Brooklyn, canvassing residents to investigate a possible hate crime. They were each wearing suits, and soon enough 15 members of the Shomrim Jewish Community patrol pulled up, accusing them of impersonating police officers. Things got heated, and white uniformed cops from the 61st Precinct arrived at the scene to handle the situation. And handle it they did! more ›

For at least a decade, Pratt's made a big deal about how its 25-acre grassy campus doubles as a much-needed public oasis for the Clinton Hill community. But the gates to Eden are closing. In June the campus was shut to the public to accommodate a major "beautification" construction project, and when it reopens again in a month only authorized visitors and those with Pratt ID cards will be welcome. Well, outsiders will be allowed to cut through the campus to get from DeKalb to Willoughby, but they're no longer invited to linger. Some wonder whether the change is in response to a perceived crime spike in the neighborhood; last month a Pratt architecture student wound up in a coma after a violent mugging near campus. Whatever the motivation, neighbors are already up in arms, and there's even talk of a petition! But one Pratt student, commenting on The Local, wants the neighbors to know they're not alone—"there are a lot of rules for Pratt students on campus, too. For example, we’re no longer allowed to skateboard." Which reminds us; student sit-in season is almost upon us! more ›

17-year-old Ali Kamara, a black Muslim, was walking home on Staten Island Tuesday night after it was announced that Barack Obama was elected president when he was brutally assaulted by four white men. Kamara tells the Daily News: "I see the car coming. They looked at me and said, 'Obama!' They were not happy. They had hoodies on. They started hitting me with bats and my body started vibrating." Luckily, Kamara was able to break away and hide until the thugs left; his mother, who moved with Ali to Staten Island from Liberia in 2000, showed the News a bloody towel she used to staunch his wounds. An NYPD spokesman says the department's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident as a bias crime. And Kamara says he heard his assailants scream the word "Obama!" but not any other racial or religious slurs, so it could be the bullies just mistook Kamara for the new President-Elect. more ›

Last September three women filed a lawsuit against Mayor Bloomberg’s company, Bloomberg LP, accusing Bloomberg of being personally responsible for creating a "systemic, top-down culture of discrimination," and accusing Bloomberg LP CEO Lex Fenwick of firing two pregnant employees with this gangsta riposte: “I'm not having any pregnant bitches working for me.” more ›