Starbucks Wrong to Ban Union Slogan on Cups, NLRB Judge Says (1)

Starbucks Corp. illegally forbid workers from marking and calling food and beverage orders with “union strong” or other advocacy phrases requested by customers, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled.

Starbucks claimed the prohibition was a legitimate effort to bar political or personal discourse in its stores. But the company promoted such discourse on “several praiseworthy topics”—like LGBTQ+ rights and disability rights—by selling t-shirts on those topics to workers and encouraging them to wear those shirts as part of their uniforms, Administrative Law Judge Robert Ringler said in his ruling Thursday.

“At best, this is inconsistent, and at worst, this ...