Starbucks v. Union: Supreme Court decides to hear Starbucks’ appeal

Starbucks’ ongoing legal battle over workers’ unionization enters a critical phase as the Supreme Court agrees to hear an appeal in response to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) dispute.

The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear an appeal from Starbucks in a dispute with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) over efforts by workers to unionize at a store in Memphis, Tennessee.

The attempt to unionize Starbucks’ company-owned U.S. outlets has been going on for more than two years, and the Memphis case has been one of the most keenly followed.

In Feb. 2022, Starbucks fired seven employees in Memphis, claiming safety concerns. The Seattle-based coffee chain claimed that reopening a store after closing and allowing non-employees, including a television crew, to enter and wander about the store was against company rules.

However, the NLRB stepped in, claiming that the business was illegally interfering with the right of workers to organize and that the establishment had habitually let staff members congregate there after closure. A federal judge was requested by the NLRB to issue an urgent injunction compelling Starbucks to hire back the workers.

A federal judge concurred and mandated Starbucks to reinstate the employees in Aug 2022. Later on, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling. Starbucks filed a Supreme Court appeal. The case’s legal question is what criteria courts ought to apply when determining whether to impose an injunction against a company during a labor dispute. Starbucks claimed the lower courts in this case employed a permissive test when deciding to award the injunction to the labor board, whereas other federal courts have adopted a harder standard.

According to Workers United, the union that represents Starbucks employees, the company is attempting to lessen the labor board’s authority to hold companies responsible. “There’s no doubt that Starbucks broke federal law by firing workers in Memphis for joining together in a union,” Workers United claimed. “The district court determined that, and the decision was affirmed by one of the most conservative courts in the nation.”

In the end, the Memphis store decided to become unionized. Since late 2021, at least 370 Starbucks locations have cast ballots in favor of unionization.

Source: AP