On Aug. 18, a federal district judge ordered Starbucks to reinstate seven workers who were fired for organizing a union drive at a store in Memphis, Tennessee.
U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman ruled that the coffee company failed to prove that it consistently enforced similar company policies at other locations under similar circumstances.
The media and labor activists have called the local baristas the “Memphis Seven,” after they were fired following an interview with the press about their efforts to unionize their store this year, in violation of what Starbucks calls its official policy regarding employee/media relations.
The workers’ union, Starbucks Workers United, dismissed it as retaliation for attempting to organize….