When it comes to the most-admired companies, Google tops many of the lists as being highly innovative and a great place to work. The company is also facing two prominent lawsuits from former employees: a gender-pay lawsuit filed by women who claimed they were paid less than their male counterparts and a lawsuit alleging discrimination against conservative white men.
In December 2012, protesters in the United Kingdom occupied more than 40 Starbucks locations to express their outrage at government cuts to public services for women and children. Starbucks global leadership could be forgiven if they were caught off guard. Since being pressured by activists in 2000 to adopt fair-trade policies for its coffee, Starbucks has engaged in a range of efforts to embrace sustainability and socially responsible practices. So why did protesters select Starbucks as their target? The fact that the company had not paid taxes in the United Kingdom since 2009 had something to do with it. More important, however, was that Starbucks offered protesters a powerful global platform for their message.
