Court rejects Starbucks' challenge to US labor board, ruling it illegally fired baristas

Source: The Guardian

Sat 28 Dec 2024 11.20 EST
Last modified on Sat 28 Dec 2024 18.55 EST


A federal appeals court has largely rejected Starbucks’ appeal of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that the coffee chain illegally fired two Philadelphia baristas because they wanted to organize a union.

The third US circuit court of appeals said the coffee shop giant lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of administrative law judges of the NLRB, the government agency that is set up to enforce labor laws in the US concerning labor practices and collective bargaining. The judgment represents a possible setback for companies such as Amazon, the Trader Joe’s grocery chain and SpaceX that have sought to limit the agency’s enforcement powers.

Circuit judge Thomas Ambro wrote for a three-judge panel that substantial evidence supported the NLRB’s conclusion that Starbucks engaged in unfair labor practices by firing Echo Nowakowska and Tristan Bussiere from their south Philadelphia store, and previously reducing Nowakowska’s hours.

The court also found substantial evidence that Starbucks knew before the firings that the baristas had recorded meetings with supervisors without their consent, and rejected Starbucks’ claim it need not rehire the baristas with back pay because it discovered the improper recordings only later.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/28/starbucks-national-labor-relations-board-lawsuit