Opinion ID: 799606
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Starbucks's One Button Policy

Text: Starbucks implements a comprehensive dress code for its employees. The code includes rules about appropriate types and colors of shoes, pants, socks, shirts, undershirts, and jewelry. The purpose of the dress policy, according to Starbucks's employee handbook, is to ensure that partners present a clean, neat, and professional appearance appropriate of [sic] a retailer of specialty gourmet products. Additionally, Starbucks encourages employees to wear multiple pins and buttons issued by Starbucks as part of its employee-reward and product-promotion programs. The ALJ found that many of the adornments worn by employees are not obviously related to employee programs, and that the resulting public image is of a uniformed employee wearing a variety of unrelated pins and buttons on their hats and aprons. Starbucks implemented a policy prohibiting multiple pro-union buttons following an informal settlement agreement between Starbucks and the Board in March 2006. Pursuant to that settlement agreement, Starbucks replaced its prior prohibition of all pro-union buttons with the following written policy: Partners are not permitted to wear buttons or pins that advocate a political, religious or personal issue. The only buttons or pins that will be permitted are those issued to the partner by Starbucks for special recognition or advertising a Starbucks-sponsored event or promotion; and reasonably-sized-and-placed buttons or pins that identify a particular labor organization or a partner's support for that organization, except if they interfere with safety or threaten to harm customer relations or otherwise unreasonably interfere with Starbucks [sic] public image. Starbucks management interpreted this rule to preclude the wearing of more than one pro-union pin, and requested that several employees remove additional pins before being allowed to work. The prohibited pins were less than one inch in diameter and bore the initials IWW in white letters against a red background. After examining photographs, the ALJ found that these pins were no more conspicuous in size or design than the Starbucks-issued pins.