Starbucks Seven – Memphis Flyer

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has rejected Starbucks’ challenge to a ruling that required them to rehire the Memphis Seven. The employees were originally fired for attempting to organize a union, which was publicized by a media event.

“The record contains sufficient evidence to support the district court’s order of temporary injunctive relief as necessary to return the parties to the status quo pending resolution of the Board’s proceedings. We affirm the judgement of the district court,” circuit judges said in the conclusion.

Court documents state that the employees were originally fired in February of 2022 for the following reasons:

Being in the store while off duty
Entering the back-of-house or counter area while off duty
Unlocking a locked door to allow an unauthorized person to enter while off duty
Activating the safe and handling cash while off duty
Supervising while these offenses were being committed.

A federal judge had ordered that the seven employees be reinstated in August of 2022. However, Starbucks challenged this ruling.

According to court documents, Workers United “filed an action with the National Labor Relations Board, charging that Starbucks’ firing of the Memphis Seven, and other anti-union actions, violated section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act.”

Not only did the court conclude that Starbucks had violated the act, but that the reinstatement of the employees was “just and proper.”

“The Act provides that [e]mployees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining,” the court documents stated.

The court also stated that “fear of retaliation” would exist unless the workers were reinstated.

At a press conference held on Wednesday, D.A. candidate Steve Mulroy coupled two of his current concerns: his support for the striking “Starbucks Seven,” whose unionizing efforts led to their firing, and his campaign for District Attorney General.

Backed by the Starbucks workers and Jeremy Tallent of the Carpenter’s Local Union 345, Mulroy, a Democrat, promised to use his office to defend workers’ rights if elected D.A.

“Not enough attention is being paid to worker exploitation,” Mulroy said. “If you look at the studies, wage theft is rampant. Job misclassification when employers falsely say people are independent contractors when they’re really employees in order to avoid paying benefits, paying into the unemployment compensation fund, paying taxes: [all] that is rampant.”

And, he contended, “retaliation by employers for either unionizing, or protesting wage and hour violations, or protesting any kind of job mistreatment is also rampant, and there are real gaps in enforcement [against] retaliation by employers for either unionizing or protesting. Wage and hour violations or protesting any kind of job mistreatment is also rampant, and there are real gaps in enforcement.”

The Department of Labor was ill-equipped to deal with these violations, Mulroy said. “The number of people that they’re responsible for inspecting has tripled over the years. They’re overworked.”

Besides, he continued, “more and more workers are being forced to sign arbitration clauses, which preclude civil remedies. And even when you do get civil remedies, usually the most you can get is restitution. So there’s really no incentive for the employer not to violate the law, because basically, they’re getting a zero interest free loan.”

Mulroy warmed to his point: “in the last decade or so, progressive prosecutors have been using ordinary theft and fraud laws, both criminal and civil,” in order to combat these violations. “And that’s one of the things that I would do, if I were to be so fortunate enough to become District Attorney.”