Court hits Starbucks for firing union organizer, narrows damages
A federal court found Starbucks unlawfully fired a union-organizing supervisor – then curbed how much the company must pay for the violation.
On November 5, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued its decision in National Labor Relations Board v. Starbucks Corporation, a case that has drawn attention from HR professionals and labor watchers across the country. The dispute centers on the firing of Hannah Whitbeck, a shift supervisor at Starbucks’ Main and Liberty store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who became a leading figure in her store’s union organizing campaign.
Whitbeck, promoted to shift supervisor after joining Starbucks in 2019, was at the forefront of efforts to organize her workplace in early 2022. She encouraged colleagues to sign union authorization cards, wore union buttons, answered customer questions about unionizing, and made her support for the campaign visible in the store and on social media.
Several months into the campaign, Starbucks terminated Whitbeck, citing her decision to leave a barista alone in the café for about half an hour – an alleged violation of the company’s two-employee rule, which was intended to protect employee safety. Whitbeck did not notify a supervisor before leaving at the end of her shift, and Starbucks pointed to this as a serious breach of policy.
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