A federal judge has ruled that Starbucks must provide documents detailing its spending on unionization efforts to U.S. regulators as part of an investigation into potential financial disclosure violations. The decision comes after the U.S. Labor Department sought information about travel expenses for former CEO Howard Schultz and other company officers who visited Buffalo, New York, in 2021, following a petition by workers for a union election. Federal law requires employers to report expenses related to discouraging union activities.
Buffalo’s Starbucks location became the company’s first unionized store in December 2021, with over 360 U.S. locations following suit. Starbucks and Schultz have faced allegations of illegal union-busting, which the company denies, defending itself against complaints before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
In a recent ruling, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle also ordered Starbucks to provide records of expenses for creating and maintaining a website about union organizing.
The judge’s decision will help the Labor Department determine if Starbucks should have reported expenses related to the Buffalo trip and the union-organizing website. Starbucks had argued that the disclosure law didn’t require reporting payments to its employees involved in responding to union campaigns, but the judge ruled that these arguments could be raised as defenses if the Labor Department accuses the company of violating the disclosure law, not to dismiss the subpoena.
