NLRB Asks 3d Cir. to Enforce Rehire Orders at Philly Starbucks

The National Labor Relations Board is again going to a federal appeals court to enforce an order, this time to reinstate and give back pay to two Philadelphia Starbucks Corp. baristas whom the board found were illegally fired.

The agency filed its application for enforcement with the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Wednesday, asking the court to uphold the board’s February decision finding the coffee giant unlawfully fired two workers and committed other unfair labor practices in order to disrupt a unionization drive at two Philadelphia stores in 2019 and 2020.

Starbucks managers illegally threatened, surveilled, and interrogated employees, prohibiting them from discussing complaints about managers or job conditions, and reducing work hours for those who supported the union, the NLRB said in its decision. The board ordered Starbucks to provide back pay and offer reinstatement to the two illegally fired workers.

Starbucks argued that those two workers weren’t owed back pay and reinstatement because they made secret recordings in violation of company policy and Pennsylvania law. The company said it would have fired them for that misconduct, but didn’t learn of their actions until the unfair labor practice case was underway.

But the NLRB found that the company knew about the recordings prior to discharging the workers, yet didn’t fire them for that activity. Even if Starbucks was unaware, it would still owe back pay and reinstatement because of labor law protections for employees who make recordings in the workplace as part of a concerted effort to improve working conditions, the board said.

The board lacks the power under the National Labor Relations Act to enforce its own decisions. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo called on the agency’s regional directors Tuesday to hasten the enforcement process by giving respondents a “short deadline period” to reply to inquiries about their plans following a board ruling.

The Philadelphia case predates the nationwide organizing campaign by Starbucks Workers United that started in 2021, resulting in more than 300 unionized stores.

This is the second time the NLRB has asked a federal appeals court to enforce its orders, after taking such a measure in an election dispute at the company’s Seattle roastery. The Philadelphia and Seattle cases are the only two Starbucks disputes in which the board has issued rulings, although the agency is litigating nearly 100 complaints against the coffee company.

Representatives for Starbucks didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, but company spokesman Andrew Trull told Bloomberg Law in February that it would consider all options to “obtain a full legal review” of the Philadelphia case.

The case is NLRB v. Starbucks Corp., 3d Cir., NLRB Case 04-CA-252338, petition for enforcement filed 5/24/23.