Supreme Court agrees to hear case over Starbucks’ firing of pro-union employees

By Luciana Lopez and Allison Morrow, CNN

New York (CNN) — The US Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case in which Starbucks was ordered to re-hire pro-union workers that the coffee company had previously fired.

Starbucks in February 2022 let go of seven workers who were involved in forming a union in Memphis, Tennessee. A company spokesman at the time said the workers were fired for serious security violations after they allowed members of the media into the store after hours as part of the public launch of their unionization effort.

The National Labor Review Board petitioned a court to rule that Starbucks wrongfully terminated the so-called Memphis 7 employees. In August 2022, a federal judge agreed with the NLRB, who said the workers needed to be rehired. Starbucks appealed, and on Friday, the Supreme Court said it would take up the case.

That was just one of a string of rulings against the coffee chain in recent years amid accusations of anti-unionization efforts. The first Starbucks location voted to unionize in late 2021. Since then, Starbucks has fought those unionization efforts, often resulting in NLRB and court battles.

Last year, an NLRB judge said the company had to reinstate a number of workers who were involved in unionizing efforts and who were let go from locations in or around Buffalo. In that case, the judge said the company displayed “egregious and widespread misconduct” in its dealings with employees involved in unionization efforts. Starbucks is appealing that ruling.

In another instance, a different NLRB judge found last year that Starbucks violated federal labor law when it increased wages and offered new perks and benefits only to non-union employees.

“We are pleased the Supreme Court has decided to consider our request to level the playing field for all US employers,” Starbucks said. It has argued that courts have used different standards to determine whether to grand NLRB injunctions, and they should should use the same standard.

But Starbucks Workers United, the employee union, called the company’s actions “illegal union busting.”

“There’s no doubt that Starbucks broke federal law by firing workers in Memphis for joining together in a union,” the union said in a statement. “The district court determined that, and the decision was affirmed by one of the most conservative courts in the nation.”

In a previous post on the company website, Starbucks said a recent third-party assessment on showed “there is no evidence Starbucks has, or has used, an ‘anti-union playbook.’ It affirms the company has provided consistent reassurances to partners that Starbucks respects their right to collectively organize through fairly conducted elections.”

CNN’s Danielle Weiner-Bronner contributed reporting.

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