Starbucks was hit with its first bargaining order under the National Labor Relations Board’s landmark Cemex doctrine after an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that the company committed multiple legal violations in the lead-up to a union election at a New York store. The order handed down by NLRB ALJ Jeffrey Gardner held that Starbucks managers unlawfully interrogated, threatened, and solicited grievances from workers at a Starbucks location in Great Neck, New York. In his ruling, Gardner said that as soon as the workers told management of their plans to unionize, the company “sprang into action to stop it.”
Under Cemex, when a union says it has support from a majority of workers and requests recognition, an employer can either recognize and bargain with the union or file a petition for an election. If an employer breaks labor law ahead of the vote after a union made that demand, the NLRB can order it to recognize and bargain with the union. ALJ Gardner held that the Great Neck workers unanimously presented their authorization cards, which constituted a request for the union to be recognized, but instead of recognizing the union, Gardner said that Starbucks “engaged in a widespread campaign of unfair labor practices during the critical period” which he found invalidated the election.
The ruling comes as the Ninth Circuit last week heard oral arguments in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific LLC’s challenge to the NLRB’s Cemex doctrine.