NYC sues Starbucks

NEW YORK - New York City is suing Starbucks for allegedly wrongfully terminating a barista who helped organize a union at a Queens location.

The lawsuit was filed by the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.  It claims the employee, identified as Austin Locke, was let go less than a month after he and his coworkers voted to unionize a Starbucks in Queens.

The city says this is the first time it has filed suit for an alleged violation of its "just cause" protections for fast-food workers.

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The company says the worker was not fired for union activities but was let go for not filling out a COVID-19 questionnaire and falsely reporting that a supervisor made physical contact with him.

More than 220 U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize.

Last month a federal judge ordered Starbucks to reinstate seven employees in Memphis, Tennessee who were fired after leading an effort to unionize a location there.