Starbucks Store Civility Rule Violated Law, NLRB Judge Says (1)

A Michigan Starbucks store must roll back its handbook policy on respectful communication in the workplace after a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that it was unlawfully broad.

Starbucks managers at a cafe in Ann Arbor, Michigan acted with “profound ignorance” over employees’ rights under federal labor law by firing the store’s lead union organizer, NLRB Administrative Law Judge Paul Bogas said in a ruling Tuesday.

The organizer, Alexandra Anisimova, was fired in September 2022 after she had multiple confrontations with the store and district managers. Management claimed that she had violated the company’s policy around communicating respectfully.

The ...