Starbucks Is Racking Up Labor Law Violations as Rulings Roll in

Starbucks Corp. has repeatedly violated federal labor law, a growing number of administrative rulings have found. Former NLRB members and agency attorneys say the cases shed light on the coffee chain’s potential legal strategy for handling complaints related to its effort to fight unionization.

Over the past eight months, Starbucks has lost 16 of 17 cases decided by National Labor Relations Board administrative law judges. The violations cited in the rulings include worker intimidation, discriminatory rules, and unlawful discipline and termination of union organizers.

The company’s spokesman refutes the notion that there’s a corporate strategy to undermine the union, ...