Starbucks’ Fight Over Seattle Bargaining Order Meets Wary Court

A federal appeals court panel grilled attorneys for Starbucks Corp. over the company’s challenge to a union election at its Seattle Roastery and subsequent National Labor Relations Board order to bargain.

Judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit during oral argument Wednesday questioned Starbucks attorney Gregory Fisher of Littler Mendelson PC on the company’s argument that a labor board official abused his power by mandating a mail-in election at the Seattle mega-cafe in 2022.

Starbucks says NLRB Regional Director Ronald Hooks skewed the results by calling for a mail-in election instead of an in-person one because ...