Welcome to Labor of Law. This week, we're looking at Starbucks' labor and employment response to the arrest of two patrons. And: Workplace claims mount against the National Football League. Plus, the latest woes at Tesla. Scroll down for who got the work in some big new cases.

I'm Erin Mulvaney in Washington, D.C., covering labor and employment from the Swamp to Silicon Valley. Follow this weekly newsletter for the latest analysis and happenings. If you have a story idea, feedback or just want to say hi, I'm at [email protected] and on Twitter @erinmulvaney. Thanks always for reading. With that, let's get started.

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The L&E Perspective on the Starbucks Arrests

Boycotts and increased scrutiny against Starbucks Coffee Company erupted after a now infamous incident at a Philadelphia shop. Two black patrons who were waiting for a friend were arrested after the store's manager asked them to leave. Witnesses described the encounter as racially motivated and said the men did nothing to warrant an arrest.

The manager was fired. Apologies were issued. Protests ensued. Philadelphia Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, pictured above, spoke out. The two men retained the firm Cohen, Placitella & Roth to explore any civil liability. Starbucks announced it would close 8,000 stores on May 29 to provide 175,000 employees racial bias and education training.

Where does this leave us now? The incident reveals larger questions about unconscious bias and what companies should do to minimize such incidents within the workforce.

Starbucks prides itself as being a socially responsible business. The company very quickly denounced the arrests, and the decision to close the stores for a day of employee training was swift. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said he would meet with the two men.

I reached out to Philly-based Fisher Phillips partners Rick Grimaldi and Lori Armstrong Halber, who spoke to me about what happened in their backyard and how they'd counsel an employer in a similar position.

“We both believe that Starbucks has responded well,” Grimaldi told me. “Under the circumstances, you can't do much better. That said, that's just the beginning. It's a good start. Training in and of itself isn't worth a damn if you don't execute it moving forward.”

Halber and Grimaldi say companies should look to combat unconscious bias as a general practice. That might mean continual training and in-store monitoring.

“Training can't be one and done,” Halber says. “The concept has to be continually introduced to people.” She added, “This is not a Starbucks problem. It's a societal problem in the U.S. It's not enough to fire a manager and do training. We need to correct it.”

It's not just Starbucks.

A recent article by Fisher Phillips' William Blackie, of counsel in the firm's Cleveland office, looked at unconscious bias in the hiring process. Blackie points to Yale University research that found employers pay a 5 percent “beauty premium” to employees viewed as attractive and a study from Harvard University found men taller than 5'11 earn an average of $5,525 more per year than their shorter counterparts.

Blackie notes another data point from the National Bureau of Economic Research found job candidates with Caucasian names received 50 percent more call backs than stereotypical African-American names—even though the resumes were identical.

“But just because unconscious biases are just that—unconscious—does it mean employers are off the hook from a legal perspective? Not necessarily,” writes Blackie. “The influence of unconscious biases in employment can be huge—from recruiting efforts and the interview process, to the final hiring decision. Ultimately, this can open the door to costly discrimination claims.”

Who Got the Work

→Nine former security representatives are suing the NFL for alleged age discrimination. Pryor Cashman partners Lisa Buckley, the daughter of one of the plaintiffs, and Joshua Zuckerberg, working with associate LaKeisha M.A. Caton, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. [New York Law Journal]

→ Speaking of the NFL, another cheerleader's brought a workplace complaint against a team for alleged religious and gender discrimination. Kristan Ware, represented by Sarasota lawyer Sara Blackwell, filed the claims against the Miami Dolphins with the Florida Commission on Human Relations. [NYT]

→ Wigdor Law LLP's Michael Willemin represents an Ernst & Young partner who's bought an EEOC complaint alleging a co-worker sexually harassed her at an event in Florida in 2015. “We take all allegations of sexual harassment seriously,” EY said in a statement. [WSJ]

→ A Pennsylvania judge says Uber limo drivers are contractors, not employees. The ruling confronted a key issue at the heart of the debate over the gig economy. Matthew Hank of Littler Mendelson represents Uber. Jeremy Abay of Sacks, Weston and Diamond in Philadelphia represents the drivers. [Reuters]

Around the Water Cooler

➤➤ Tesla is one of the companies under the microscope in the last year. One of the race discrimination suits filed against the company could test the legal rights of contractors. Bloomberg has a deep dive, reporting, “unlike other former Tesla workers' allegations of race and sex discrimination, the electric car giant hasn't been able to keep this one out of court. As contract workers, (the plaintiffs) weren't required, as many direct Tesla employees are, to settle any disputes through binding arbitration.”

➤➤ One challenge of being a career government official facing a new administration: fall in line or quit? A panel in Washington—including David Ogden of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and G. Roger King, senior labor and employment counsel at the HR Policy Association—examined workplace issues facing career lawyers. [National Law Journal]

➤➤ New legislation in California would block the use of arbitration agreements to resolve workplace disputes. [Los Angeles Times]

➤➤ Lawyers are playing a “critical role” in Hollywood sexual harassment scandals. Repping clients on both sides of the sexual misconduct wars, attorneys weigh in on entertainment world's watershed moment. [Variety]

➤➤ State legislation aimed at curtailing LGBT rights are failing. Bills in state legislatures have been stymied around the country. Republican leaders fear economic backlash. [Associated Press]

➤➤ Companies wonder if overtime pay is worth it. For companies shelling out more pay at time-and-a-half rates, the wage drain cuts into profits and can affect new investments. For workers who qualify for overtime, the extra hours can be a boon and a burden. [WSJ]

➤➤ NLRB backtracks in highlighting the work of the Anne Frank Center in New York. A mass email to agency staff that mentioned the nonprofit center was a “mistake.” Naming the center, which has been critical of President Trump, should not be “regarded as an endorsement by the National Labor Relations Board, Chairman Kaplan, or General Counsel Robb of partisan views expressed by that group.” [Bloomberg]

Thanks for reading Labor of Law! We'll be back next week with more. In the meantime, you can send any tips or feedback to [email protected].