Judge orders Starbucks to stop firing union supporters after case in Ann Arbor

(Detroit Metro Times) A federal judge issued an order banning Starbucks from firing workers who engage in union activity in a case stemming from a barista who was unlawfully terminated at an Ann Arbor store.

The judge ruled last week that Starbucks illegally fired Hannah Whitbeck for union organizing and must rehire her with back pay. The coffee giant was also ordered to hold a meeting with employees and management to notify them that the company broke the law and that workers have a right to support unionization.

In the order, U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith issued the first nationwide judicial mandate preventing the coffee giant from firing workers for engaging in union activity.

“The District Court’s ruling confirms that Starbucks continues to violate the law in egregious ways, thus requiring a nationwide cease and desist order,” Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board, said in a statement this week. “Specifically, in addition to ordering reinstatement of an unlawfully fired union supporter, the judge appropriately ordered Starbucks to stop discharging and otherwise interfering with workers’ rights to organize at all its stores around the country.” ............(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/news/judge-orders-starbucks-to-stop-firing-union-supporters-after-case-in-ann-arbor-32452556