Starbucks Challenges Labor Board’s Remedial Power at Third Cir.

Starbucks Corp. told a federal appeals court that the National Labor Relations Board lacks the power to order employers to pay for the downstream economic consequences of their unfair labor practices.

The National Labor Relations Act allows the board to restore something an employer took from a defendant—permitting back pay and reinstatement awards—but it can’t compensate a worker for things like child-care costs and credit card late fees, Starbucks’ lawyer said during oral argument Wednesday at the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

“The legal rule we’re asking the court to adopt is simply that the NLRA, like ...