![]() ![]() It can order companies to reinstate wrongly fired employees with backpay and to change illegal policies, but lacks the authority to make them pay punitive damages for violating the law.įormer labor board officials say the agency could potentially go after the company for selective enforcement of its dress code and also deem the suicide-awareness button as a legally protected form of activism about working conditions. The NLRB is tasked with enforcing federal labor law, which prohibits retaliating against employees for taking collective action related to their working conditions. The labor board’s general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has issued dozens of now-pending complaints against the company, including one in August which alleged that Starbucks retaliated against employees including Westlake by “selectively and disparately” applying its dress code. “We did lose someone at my store to this issue, and the fact that somehow it’s going to be suppressed I don’t think is helpful to anyone’s mental health in our store.”Īfter Starbucks issued Westlake a final warning last month for not adhering to its dress code, the union filed a claim with the US National Labor Relations Board alleging that the company was retaliating against him for his union activism. “There are a lot of partners who are dealing with mental-health crises,” Westlake said, using Starbucks’ term for employees. ![]() ![]() He also was looking to call attention to management actions that he says are harmful to workers’ mental health. In an interview last month, Westlake said he wears the button to honor his deceased co-worker - and also to protest the company’s selective enforcement of its dress code and refusal to let employees freely wear the pin. Instead, it shows interlocked fingers and says “You are not alone,” along with the website of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Westlake’s pin doesn’t reference a union. 31, the coffee chain said that “all partners have the right to make their voice heard when it comes to union issues.” This includes “protected activities” such as “wearing a button or pin expressing support for a union or fellow partners,” according to the post. The company has repeatedly said it follows US labor laws in its dealings with the union and employees. The spokesperson said Starbucks does not retaliate against employees for lawful union activity. It filed a new labor board claim on Tuesday about Westlake’s termination and asked the agency to seek a federal court injunction in his case.Ī Starbucks spokesperson said Tuesday that operations at Westlake’s store were disrupted when he was repeatedly sent home for refusing to remove his pin. The union, Starbucks Workers United, has accused the company of illegally firing more than 80 employees because of their role in labor organizing, a protected act. In a termination notice issued Tuesday, Starbucks said it fired Westlake due to “refusal to abide by the dress-code policy,” as well as attendance issues. Westlake continued wearing his, and he said management sent him home dozens of times and issued him a “final written warning” for refusing to remove it. After management told them the pins violated the dress code, most removed them to avoid getting in trouble, he said. Westlake said he and others at his store began wearing the pins after a co-worker died by suicide earlier this year. The fired barista, Will Westlake, is also a prominent union organizer at one of the first three cafes around Buffalo, New York, that petitioned to form a union last year. barista says he was fired for wearing a mental-health awareness pin - a move the company’s union claims is part of a purge of labor activists. ![]()
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