City serves up settlement in dispute with bikini coffee business

A coffee business whose baristas serve hot java in bikinis has accepted a skimpy settlement from the city of Everett, Washington, after suing for $3 million in 2017 over the city’s dress code that banned the shop’s business model.

The Everett City Council voted unanimously on April 5 to settle for $500,000, The Daily Herald reported.

Under the agreement, the city will keep most of its rules for probationary licensing of coffee stands and other quick-service business but will no longer dictate that baristas wear at least tank tops and shorts, according to the article. Instead, the city will align dress code rules with an existing lewd conduct standard that makes it a crime to publicly expose too much of one’s private parts.

As reported, the settlement “may” be the final chapter of a saga dating back to 2009, when the city received “dozens and dozens of complaints” about scantily clad baristas at a drive-thru coffee place called “XO Espresso,” whose outfits at times consisted of little more than body paint, stickers and lacy undergarments.