New York City is suing Starbucks, alleging it wrongfully fired baristas and union organizers.
The city’s Department of Consumer and Labor Protection said the lawsuit was the first to allege a “good cause” breach of protection against New York fast food workers.
Longtime barista and union organizer Austin Locke was fired less than a month after he and his colleagues voted to unionize Starbucks in Queens, according to the lawsuit. The store is one of the dozens of Starbucks stores where he has voted to unionize.
Starbucks claims Locke was fired for failing to complete a COVID-19 questionnaire after returning to work, according to a complaint filed with the office and obtained exclusively by News. However, Locke claims he did not fill out the questionnaire because he could not find her tablet, and says he also explained it to the manager.
However, we intend to defend ourselves against allegations of good cause law violations in New York, spokesperson at Starbucks.
The Astoria District of the Borough of Queens has decided to form a union.
In this lawsuit, Locke’s reinstatement, A spokesperson for Starbucks said the Seattle-based company was not discussing the pending lawsuit but said it had voluntarily responded to allegations that it violated the law.
He said he planned to defend that Under the City’s Fair Labor Act, it is illegal to fire an employee who has completed a 30-day probationary period or who has reduced their hours by more than 15% without good cause or financial justification.
The City is suing Locke for reinstatement, return, and repayment. The city says it will continue until Locke returns to work.
“It’s been a year since he started his campaign for Starbucks Workers United at Starbucks in Buffalo, New York,” Austin said in a statement released by the city. There are currently 235 Starbucks unions nationwide.
The organizers claim retaliation from the company. Howard Schultz returns to the company as interim CEO amid workforce pressures, saying he wants to reinvent the employee, customer, and store experiences to better reflect how the world has changed since the pandemic. The company named a new CEO on Thursday.
