The NLRB issued the subpoenas itself – then penalized Starbucks for requesting them
A federal appeals court sided with Starbucks, ruling the NLRB used the wrong standard to penalize the company for subpoenaing pro-union workers.
In an April 17 decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated an NLRB order that found Starbucks committed an unfair labor practice by obtaining subpoenas targeting two employees involved in a union organizing campaign at its La Quinta, California store. The ruling does not clear Starbucks entirely, but it forces the Board to go back and redo its analysis under a different, more context-driven standard.
The dispute traces back to December 2021, when employees at the La Quinta location began a union organizing campaign. Shift supervisors Andrea Hernandez and Jazmine Cardenas joined the effort openly, and Workers United ultimately won the election for certification as the bargaining representative. In May 2022, the union filed charges accusing Starbucks of unlawful conduct during the campaign. The NLRB issued a complaint, and Starbucks began preparing its defense.
As part of that preparation, the company obtained subpoenas through the Board's standard process – a routine mechanism available to parties in NLRB proceedings. The subpoenas, directed at Hernandez and Cardenas, sought a wide range of materials: communications with the union, messages with coworkers about organizing, documents shared with the Board, and any statements tied to the...
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