The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled against Starbucks in a judicial ruling that required the coffee chain to rehire seven employees who federal authorities determined were fired for helping organize a union at one of its cafes in Memphis, Tennessee. Agreed to hear the appeal.
The justices heard Starbucks' appeal of a lower court ruling that found that by terminating the Memphis employee in 2022, the company likely prevented other employees from exercising their rights under U.S. labor law. I picked it up.
This is the first case brought to the Supreme Court in connection with the ongoing nationwide campaign to unionize Starbucks stores.
The Memphis store is one of more than 370 Starbucks stores in the U.S. that will unionize starting in 2021.
The Seattle-based company hasn't had a union in decades.
The National Labor Relations Board concluded that Starbucks illegally fired the Memphis employee to support a union movement and send a message to other workers.
The NLRB sought an injunction forcing Starbucks to rehire the workers, which Memphis-based U.S. District Judge Cheryl Lippman granted.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, upheld Lipman's ruling in 2023, condemning Starbucks' actions.
Starbucks announced that it has fired an employee for violating the company's safety policy by opening stores without consent and allowing journalists into the store.
The company announced last year that it had rehired seven employees to comply with Lippman's order, but was still appealing the Sixth Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court.
The company argued that the Sixth Circuit applied too low a standard, requiring the NLRB to only show that it had “reasonable cause” to believe that the company had violated labor laws.
Major business groups asked the Supreme Court to hear Starbucks' appeal, and the Sixth Circuit and other federal courts ruled that the NLRB could win a judicial order requiring companies to address alleged illegal labor practices. argued that it was making it too easy.
More than 700 complaints have been filed with the NLRB accusing Starbucks of illegal labor practices, including firing union supporters, spying on workers and closing stores during labor protests.
The Sixth Circuit is considering Starbucks' appeal of an NLRB ruling in a separate case that barred it from firing or disciplining employees at its Ann Arbor, Michigan, store.
Other U.S. appeals courts are considering NLRB rulings that found Starbucks illegally fired union organizers in Philadelphia and refused to bargain with unionized workers in Seattle.
The company denies wrongdoing and says it provides employees with competitive wages and benefits and respects their rights under federal labor law.
