Starbucks Subpoenas Violated Workers’ Rights, NLRB Judge Rules

Starbucks Corp. must withdraw subpoenas the company sent to two employees after a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that the requests encroached on the workers’ rights to organize.

NLRB Administrative Law Judge Amita Tracy said in a ruling Thursday that the coffee giant violated federal labor law by subpoenaing the baristas at a La Quinta, Calif., cafe for information about their unionization efforts.

The subpoenas arose as part of an investigation into alleged unfair labor practice violations at the Starbucks location. Starbucks Workers United accused the coffee giant of telling employees they couldn’t talk about the union while at ...