A federal appeals court declined to enforce most of a National Labor Relations Board ruling that Starbucks illegally threatened employees with reprisals for trying to unionize, Reuters reported on September 4. In a 2-0 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims that a Wichita, Kansas store manager and assistant manager broke federal labor law when they told employees the store had closed its hiring portal and cut hours because of union activity, with Circuit Judge Stephen Higginson finding the statements were not threats of reprisal. The court did uphold one finding that Starbucks illegally threatened to deny maternity leave benefits to a pregnant employee if workers unionized. The ruling came two days after a separate federal appeals court in Manhattan reversed an NLRB finding that Starbucks illegally barred workers at a Meatpacking District store from wearing multiple pins or T-shirts supporting a union, saying the board failed to balance the company's brand image interests against employee organizing rights. Employees at more than 700 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize and have filed hundreds of complaints with the NLRB against the company.
Starbucks CorporationTwo federal appellate courts rejected most NLRB union-related findings against Starbucks, reducing its legal exposure.
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