Starbucks Illegally Shut Down Unionized NY Store, Judge Rules

Starbucks Corp. violated federal labor law when it shut down a unionized store in Ithaca, New York, a US labor board judge ruled Thursday.

US National Labor Relations Board judge Arthur Amchan wrote in his ruling that the shutdown of a store near Cornell University’s campus “was done in large part to discourage unionization efforts in Ithaca and elsewhere.” He said Starbucks failed to prove that it would close the store “absent its animus towards the pro-union employees who worked there.”

The store, located on Ithaca’s College Avenue, was one of Starbucks’ three corporate-run cafes in Ithaca, all of which ...