Today the Starbucks Workers Union--a chapter of which recently formed in Grand Rapids--announced that a barista fired for union activity in Chicago will be reinstated and paid an undisclosed sum. Barista Gloria Sykes was fired after she told her managers that employees were going to contact the Starbucks Workers Union if management did not address age discrimination issues. Sykes was quoted in a press release saying that she was led to speak out and join the union after repeated incidents of age discrimination including management telling her that "even 16 year olds" could make coffee drinks faster than her. The 55-year old Sykes said that when she raised these issues with her managers they illegally told her that discussing the union would result in termination.

The news comes a day after Starbucks agreed to pay $85,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed in 2006 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by another barista. The suit was filed after the company fired Seattle barista Christine Drake, who has bipolar disorder. While Starbucks has not admitted any wrongdoing in the case, it agreed to pay the fired employee $75,000, gave $10,000 to the Disability Rights Legal Center (an organization representing low-income disabled people facing discrimination), will train managers about discrimination, and will provide information to the EEOC about disability complaints filed inside the company.

In July, Starbucks will go to court to defend itself against charges that it violated the rights of employers organizing a union in New York City.