In what comes as a victory for labour rights organisations and regulators, a National Labor Relations Board judge on Friday ruled that Starbucks illegally fired an employee at its Ann Arbor, Michigan store.
The judge ruled that Starbucks “acted with animus” when it fired the employee and ordered the multinational coffee chain to reinstate the fired worker with back pay.
Moreover, the company will have to hold a meeting with the employees, management as well as government representatives where a notice about workers' rights will be read and Starbucks will have to reassert the agency's filing that it broke the law.
Hannah Whitbeck, the employee in question was fired because she helped build support for unionising the Ann Arbor store.
“I would hope that they learn their lesson, that firing people because they want to start a union is not going to solve their problems. In fact, it’s only going to make it worse.” Whitbeck was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
This is not the first time that Starbucks has been ordered by a court to re-hire its illegally fired employees.
As reported by WION, in August, a US federal court ordered the company to reinstate its seven employees who were also fired for unionising.
Read more: US court orders Starbucks to rehire employees it fired for 'unionising'
Judge Sheryl H. Lipman at the US District Court of the Western District of Tennessee passed the judgement, terming the rehiring as "just and proper".
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