Starbucks Allegedly Fired A Decades-Long Employee Over Union Activity

UPDATE 9/8/23: Starbucks issued an official statement in response to the alleged incident and said the employee has been reinstated since the initial report.

As the largest restaurant chain by revenue, Starbucks is the biggest kid on the coffee block. More recently, though, the company has become known for its history of strongly opposing unionization, which has led to multiple claims of unlawful terminations. Today brings another: the firing (and rehiring) of an employee with decades of experience who was originally hired at an event hosted by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz himself.

Logan Matthews has worked for the company since that event in 1997, helping Starbucks open eight different stores and working at 50 different locations over his 26-year career. Recently, he's been heavily involved in efforts by his store in Jonesboro, Georgia, to file for unionization. Two days after the store's union election, he was fired for allegedly failing to put cash in the safe at closing.

Starbucks, however, has not provided any evidence this actually occurred, and Matthews has a long track record of closing stores successfully. Moreover, the alleged incident supposedly occurred on July 26, meaning the company waited two and a half months to fire him, then did so conspicuously right after a union election. 

Starbucks' recent history, when it comes to labor law violations concerning unionization, is unusually bad even in an industry known for profound labor problems. Judges have found the company has committed 230 federal labor law violations, including 30 unlawful terminations, and there are no signs of their union-busting trend slowing down. In July of this year, the National Labor Relations Board ordered the company to rehire four workers fired for unionizing efforts in Pittsburgh. In addition, multiple federal judges ruled the company illegally fired workers in Buffalo and Memphis.

In a union press release, Logan Matthews was defiant, saying, "Starbucks made a huge mistake by firing me, and they're going to be held accountable. You don't fire a 26-year worker two days after their store announces their organizing campaign. You don't get away with that."  He was in the process of filing an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB.

Starbucks has responded to the allegations in a message to Daily Meal, stating, "Following an initial review of the matter, it became apparent that local leadership did not follow our established internal investigation process prior to separating Logan Matthews from our Tara Blvd. and Jonesboro Rd. store. As a result, Logan has been reinstated with applicable backpay and the local leader involved has been placed on leave pending the outcome of a thorough investigation. We thank Logan for his many contributions throughout his tenure at Starbucks and apologize for this failure to adhere to established processes."