Sixth Cir. Strikes Down Expanded NLRB Remedies in Starbucks Case

The National Labor Relations Board can’t order monetary compensation for the downstream consequences of an employer’s unfair labor practices, a federal appeals court ruled in a case between the agency and Starbucks Corp.

The NLRB overstepped its authority by mandating that the coffee giant pay for “all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms” stemming from its illegal firing of a Michigan union organizer, a divided US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held Wednesday.

The ruling deepens a circuit split on the board’s remedial power, with the Sixth Circuit joining the Third and Fifth circuits to reject remedies ordered under ...