NEWS & ANALYSIS

By Emily Brill

A Starbucks manager in Kansas wasn't threatening workers when she said their benefits would be "put on the table" and "could not be guaranteed" if they unionized, Starbucks told the Fifth Circuit, asking it to set aside the National Labor Relations Board's finding that the remarks violated labor law.

By Beverly Banks

The National Labor Relations Board defended Tuesday its conclusions that a policy preventing workers from wearing multiple union pins at the Starbucks New York City Roastery is unlawful, telling the Second Circuit that the court's 2012 decision upholding a one-button rule isn't applicable.

By Beverly Banks

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors claimed Starbucks deployed a "nationwide strategy to crush" unionization efforts in challenging an agency judge's denial of remedies, arguing that the board must find the coffee giant illegally fired five workers who went inside a South Carolina store after hours to clean it.

By Emily Brill

The Fifth Circuit should uphold the National Labor Relations Board's finding that Starbucks sent overbroad subpoenas to two union-represented California workers who were testifying against the company, board attorneys argued, saying substantial evidence supports the board's finding that the subpoenas were designed to intimidate the workers.

By Emily Brill

The National Labor Relations Board improperly ignored a Starbucks employee's impression of her manager's comments during a union campaign when concluding the comments were unlawful, a split Eighth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday, resolving a case that challenged the board's standard for determining when an employer's anti-union rhetoric violates labor law.

By Beverly Banks

Federal labor law is not a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for union activists who violate an employer's policies, Starbucks argued to the Fifth Circuit, saying the National Labor Relations Board lacked evidence of anti-union bias when concluding the coffee chain illegally fired a barista in California.

By Tim Ryan

Starbucks Workers United celebrated after workers at a 600th Starbucks store voted to be represented by the union, the latest milestone in the four-year effort to organize the coffee giant.

By Beverly Banks

The Fifth Circuit must find that the National Labor Relations Board rightly concluded former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz illegally told a pro-union worker they could "go work for another company," the board argued, saying a reasonable employee would consider the remark as a threat.

By Braden Campbell

The National Labor Relations Board "thumb[ed] its nose" at employers' speech rights by ruling that Starbucks threatened workers and using the case to reverse precedent letting employers opine that a union would come between them and workers, the company told the Ninth Circuit.

By Ali Sullivan

A D.C. Circuit panel expressed skepticism Thursday that it had any role in deciding two Starbucks workers' challenge to job protections for National Labor Relations Board members now that the agency agrees with the baristas' argument.

By Emily Brill

Starbucks flouted federal labor law at a Philadelphia store by encouraging workers to report union activity to their managers and by firing two workplace activists over violations of a previously unenforced attendance policy, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled.

By Emily Brill

The National Labor Relations Board was not obligated to accommodate Starbucks after its attorney filed a challenge to a board judge's ruling 23 minutes late, the D.C. Circuit ruled Thursday, holding that the board did not abuse its discretion by refusing to process the challenge.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks unlawfully suspended union supporters at a South Carolina cafe and temporarily closed the store, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding the workers' actions, such as demanding raises from a manager, did not lose protection under federal labor law.

By Beverly Banks

The National Labor Relations Board tossed on Thursday an allegation that Starbucks violated federal labor law by not negotiating with Workers United over the discipline of a worker, declining to shift precedent on an employer's bargaining obligation with a union that hasn't notched a first contract.

By Beverly Banks

The Fifth Circuit must not enforce a National Labor Relations Board decision dinging Starbucks for unlawful subpoenas that sought employees' recordings of management and communications with Workers United, the coffee giant argued, challenging the board's application of 30-year-old precedent about discovery.

By Beverly Banks

A National Labor Relations Board attorney withdrew arguments in separate cases involving Starbucks and the American Civil Liberties Union about so-called captive audience meetings and negotiating over discipline with a new union, pointing to the acting general counsel's rescission of his predecessor's memorandums.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks illegally fired a Workers United supporter in North Carolina for striking and refused to hire another employee given their union activities, a National Labor Relations Board judge concluded Monday, saying the coffee chain can't ask workers to get a manager's blessing before exercising their organizing rights.

By Beverly Banks

The National Labor Relations Board must not dismiss claims accusing Starbucks of failing to negotiate with Workers United about the display of pride decorations at stores in Oklahoma City, the agency's acting general counsel argued, saying the coffee chain is required to bargain.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks violated federal labor law at two Connecticut stores in its efforts to quell support for Workers United, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, dinging the coffee giant for unlawfully firing a union supporter and threatening the loss of a Lyft reimbursement, among other actions.

By Beverly Banks

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors requested a Cemex bargaining order against Starbucks related to its alleged federal labor law violations at a Missouri store, after asking for a filing extension to make sure its post-hearing brief "reflects the views" of the agency's new acting general counsel.