Starbucks Illegally Curbed Worker’s Testimony, Labor Board Rules

Starbucks Corp. illegally hampered a Seattle worker’s ability to testify at a National Labor Relations Board hearing in response to an agency subpoena, the NLRB ruled.

The NLRB affirmed an administrative law judge’s 2022 decision that the coffee giant violated federal labor law by telling workers they can’t testify when subpoenaed without getting a co-worker to cover their shift, and by threatening them with discipline if they failed to secure that coverage.

The worker who was subpoenaed eventually testified in a hearing before an NLRB regional director on a day they were scheduled to be off work.