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WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear an appeal by Starbucks in its dispute with the National Labor Relations Board over unionization efforts by workers at a store in Memphis, Tennessee.
The lawsuit is one of the most high-profile cases in Starbucks’ more than two-year effort to unionize its U.S. stores.
In February 2022, Starbucks fired seven employees in Memphis for safety reasons. The Seattle coffee giant said it violated company policy by reopening its stores after closing and allowing non-employees, including television crews, to enter and move around the store.
But the NLRB intervened, arguing that the company was illegally interfering with workers’ right to organize and that the store routinely allowed employees to gather after closing hours. The NLRB asked a federal judge for an immediate injunction forcing Starbucks to reinstate the employees.
In August 2022, a federal judge agreed and ordered Starbucks to reinstate the employees. This decision was later upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Starbucks appealed to the Supreme Court.
The legal questions in this case are standard ones that courts should use when deciding whether to issue orders against companies during labor disputes. Starbucks argued that the lower court in this case used a lenient standard in deciding to grant the Labor Commissioner’s injunction, while other federal courts have adopted stricter standards. Stated.
“Level the playing field for all U.S. employers by ensuring that a single standard is applied when federal district courts decide whether to grant injunctions sought by the National Labor Relations Board.” “We are pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to consider our request to do so,” the company said. said Friday.
Workers United, the union that organizes Starbucks workers, said the company is trying to weaken labor boards’ ability to hold companies accountable.
“There is no question that Starbucks violated federal law by firing employees in Memphis for participating in a labor union,” Workers United said in a statement. “The district court held so, and this decision was upheld by one of the most conservative courts in the country.”
The Memphis store ultimately voted to unionize. The store is one of at least 370 Starbucks locations that have voted to unionize since the end of 2021.
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