US supreme court sides with Starbucks in union case over fired employees

Justices throw out lower court's approval of injunction ordering coffee chain to rehire seven employees

The US supreme court sided on Thursday with Starbucks in the coffee chain's challenge to a judicial order to rehire seven Memphis employees fired as they sought to unionize in a ruling that could make it harder for courts to quickly halt labor practices contested as unfair under federal law.

The justices threw out a lower court's approval of an injunction sought by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordering Starbucks to reinstate the workers while the agency's in-house administrative case against the Seattle-based company proceeds.