Starbucks sued by pro-union staff for defamation, abusing legal process

Starbucks employees are suing the company for defamation over its response to a union protest. 

In a lawsuit filed Monday in South Carolina state court, eight Starbucks workers accused the company of falsely and maliciously portraying them as criminals, and accused the company and the manager of making false statements to the police "for the illegitimate collateral purpose of preventing plaintiffs from publicly protesting Starbucks." 

The lawsuit stems from an Aug. 1 confrontation in which pro-union employees gathered inside the cafe and presented the manager with a letter asking for improvements such as higher pay.

According to the lawsuit, the employees peacefully followed the manager to the store's exit, repeating their request for a raise, and then the manager falsely claimed that the baristas were preventing her from leaving the building. The manager reported the workers to local law enforcement, whom she told that the staff "would not let her leave until they got a raise," and that one of them "assaulted her," according to a police report cited in the filing. Starbucks then suspended the plaintiffs, who deny they threatened the manager and accuse the company of abusing the legal process.

Read more: How tech employers can prepare for unionization

Starbucks didn't immediately comment in response to an inquiry Monday. 

In an August post on its website, the company said that the store's manager "felt threatened and unsafe" because of employees' conduct, and that it was cooperating with law enforcement while also conducting its own investigation. "We fully respect our partners' right to organize but no one, regardless of their interest in a union, is exempt from the standards we have always held — that everyone in our stores can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and work in a warm, welcoming, inclusive environment," the company said at the time.

The police investigation found no merit in Starbucks' claims that the activists had committed kidnapping or assault against their manager, local media outlet The State reported Oct. 1. The workers' lawsuit cites a spokesperson for the sheriff's office, who was quoted in the story saying that none of the allegations were true. 

The dispute has drawn attention from figures including Senator Bernie Sanders, who tweeted in August: "I cannot believe I have to say this, but workers who are organizing for better working conditions should not have to deal with their boss accusing them of kidnapping and assault."

The lawsuit opens a new front in the bitter legal battle between the coffee chain and Starbucks Workers United, the union that has prevailed in elections at around 250 of the company's 9,000 corporate-run US stores over the past year. The union has filed numerous legal claims against the company with the US National Labor Relations Board, which has issued dozens of pending complaints accusing Starbucks of violating federal labor law in its efforts to defeat the union, allegations that Starbucks denies. Labor board judges ruled against the company in two of those cases this month, ordering remedies including reinstatement of fired activists in Michigan and Kansas.

The NLRB lacks the authority to levy punitive damages against companies for wrongdoing. In contrast, Monday's state court complaint seeks punitive and compensatory damages, as well as an injunction preventing Starbucks from claiming that the workers assaulted or kidnapped their boss.