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Starbucks sued in NYC over canceled freebie coffee coupon

10:09 PM PDT on Friday, September 8, 2006

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Starbucks is being sued for 114 (m) million dollars over its recall of a coupon that entitled the holder to a free iced drink.

Attorney Peter Sullivan filed the lawsuit today in New York on behalf of a 23-year-old Starbucks regular who he says felt "betrayed" when her coupon was not honored. He is accusing the Seattle-based coffee company of fraud and says he will request class-action status for the suit.

Starbucks e-mailed the coupon last month to selected employees with instructions for them to forward the coupon to friends and family. Starbucks withdrew the offer when the e-mail distribution got out of control.

Sullivan says the 114 (m) million dollars the lawsuit seeks is an estimate of the average cost of one daily cup of Starbucks coffee for all of the people turned away during the 38 days the offer was supposed to be valid.

A Starbucks spokeswoman says the company has no immediate comment.

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