By: Serach Nissim
The City of New York is suing Starbucks in a landmark case, alleging the “wrongful termination” of a barista who worked at the store located in Astoria, Queens.
As reported by the NY Post, on Friday, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection announced the suit, adding that the Queens store has recently become unionized. Per the Post, on July 5, Austin Locke was fired after six years of employment at the Starbucks on Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Street. Just a month earlier, the employees at the store had voted in favor of becoming part of a labor union. Upon losing his job, Locke, 28, filed a complaint with the DCWP, and the department found that Starbucks retaliated against him for his role in organizing the union. Starbucks claims that it fired Locke for failing to complete a COVID-19 questionnaire when returning to work after a sick leave in June, and for subsequently reporting that a supervisor “placed his hand” on Locke’s chest to prevent him from entering a room, as per the complaint, which was filed on Thursday with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Starbucks claims that the alleged physical contact complaint was false.
Locke said he was fired in retaliation for leading the store’s successful vote to unionize. He claims that he and other pro-union Starbucks workers around the U.S. are being targeted by the company for their involvement in unionizing. This store was the second Starbucks store in Queens to unionize, and over the past year, some 235 Starbucks stores around the country have joined unions.
The official complaint represents the city’s first legal action under the July 2021 Just Cause law, which says that New York City’s large fast-food companies cannot fire workers without showing “just cause”–defined as a legitimate business reasons or for misconduct or incompetence. The city agency is demanding that Starbucks give Locke his job back, and pay him back for the lost time since he was fired. It is also demanding that the java chain pay civil penalties for violating the city’s fair workweek law. “DCWP stands ready to fight for the dignity and respect that all workers deserve from their employers,” DCWP Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga said in a statement. “To all New York City fast food workers, if you believe you have been illegally fired from your workplace, do not hesitate to contact us.”
Some 85 workers across the country who have been involved in organizing unions at Starbucks have been fired in recent months, as per the workers group Starbucks Workers United (SWU). “Starbucks continues to wrongfully fire pro-union workers nationwide in retaliation for union organizing”, Locke said in a statement on Friday. “Starbucks Workers United demands Starbucks rehire all illegally fired workers and put an end to their illegal union-busting campaign.”
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams praised the DCWP for taking action. “Protecting workers’ rights to organize and unionize is critical, and employers who try to undermine and violate those rights must be held accountable,” she said.
Starbucks replied, saying in a statement, “We do not comment on pending litigation. However, we do intend to defend against the alleged violations of the New York City Just Cause Law.”
