# Starbucks Wins Court Ruling, One Finding Remains

> Starbucks wins major court victory but one labor finding still sticks.
- Title: Starbucks Wins Court Ruling, One Finding Remains | Shortify
- Summary: Starbucks wins major court victory but one labor finding still sticks. Starbucks won a federal appeals court ruling that Starbucks did not illegally threaten…
- Keywords: starbucks, nrlb, unions, labor, maternity, revenue, fiscal, quarter, earnings, margin, operational, turnaround
- Source: Yahoo Finance — https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/starbucks-sbux-wins-big-court-144721274.html
- Published: 2026-09-17T14:47:21+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: starbucks, nrlb, unions, labor, maternity, revenue, fiscal, quarter, earnings, margin, operational, turnaround
## Starbucks Wins Court Ruling
A federal appeals court declined to enforce most of a National Labor Relations Board ruling that Starbucks illegally threatened employees with reprisals for unionizing and pretended to surveil organizing efforts.
## Court Rejects Union Threat Claims
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims that a Wichita, Kansas store manager and assistant manager broke federal labor law by telling employees the store had closed its hiring portal and cut hours due to union activity.
## Court Finds Maternity Benefit Threat
The court upheld a finding that Starbucks illegally threatened to deny maternity leave benefits to a pregnant employee if workers unionized.
## Separate Ruling on Union Activity
A federal appeals court in Manhattan reversed an NLRB finding that Starbucks illegally barred workers at a Meatpacking District store from wearing union-supporting pins or T-shirts.
## Starbucks' Financial Turnaround
Fiscal third-quarter global comparable sales rose 7.9%, while adjusted earnings per share of $0.85 beat estimates by roughly 31%.
## Profitability Improves
Non-GAAP operating margin expanded 430 basis points to 14.4%, marking a second consecutive quarter of margin growth.
## Remaining Labor Challenge
Starbucks still faces a major labor dispute as more than 700 stores have voted to unionize and employees filed hundreds of NLRB complaints.
## Key takeaway

Starbucks won a federal appeals court ruling that Starbucks did not illegally threaten employees with reprisals for unionizing, but the company still faces a legal risk of cutting maternity benefits for a pregnant employee who unionized.