June 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court sided on

Thursday with Starbucks ( SBUX ) 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 U.S. National Labor Relations Board

(NLRB) ordering Starbucks ( SBUX ) to reinstate the workers while the

agency's in-house administrative case against the Seattle-based

company proceeds.

Starbucks ( SBUX ) had argued that the judge in the Memphis case

should have used a stringent four-factor test to weigh the bid

for an injunction, similar to the standard used by some other

courts and in non-labor legal disputes. This test includes an

assessment of whether the side seeking relief would suffer

irreparable harm and is likely to succeed on the merits of the

case.

Starbucks ( SBUX ) contended that under a stricter standard, the case

would have come out differently in the lower courts.

President Joe Biden's administration had defended the NLRB's

actions in the case. During Supreme Court arguments in the case

in April, a Justice Department lawyer said the NLRB seeks

injunctions like the one issued against Starbucks ( SBUX ) in very few

"cream of the crop" cases, last year requesting just seven even

though it receives 20,000 unfair labor charges annually.

About 400 Starbucks ( SBUX ) locations in the United States have

unionized, involving more than 10,000 employees. Both sides at

times have accused the other of unlawful or improper conduct.

Hundreds of complaints have been filed with the NLRB

accusing Starbucks ( SBUX ) of unlawful labor practices such as firing

union supporters, spying on workers and closing stores during

labor campaigns. Starbucks ( SBUX ) has denied wrongdoing and said it

respects the right of workers to choose whether to unionize.

Both sides in February announced they had agreed to create a

"framework" to guide organizing and collective bargaining and

potentially settle scores of pending legal disputes.

In 2022, workers at a Starbucks ( SBUX ) cafe on Poplar Avenue in

Memphis became among the first in the company to unionize. Early

in their efforts, they allowed a television news crew into the

cafe after hours to talk about the union campaign. Starbucks ( SBUX )

fired seven workers present that evening, including several who

belonged to the union organizing committee.

Despite the dismissals, employees there subsequently voted

to join the Workers United union.

The union filed unfair labor charges with the NLRB over the

firings and other discipline by managers. The NLRB sought an

injunction, accusing Starbucks ( SBUX ) of unlawfully firing the workers

for supporting the union drive and to send a message to other

workers.

U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman granted the injunction in

2022, reinstating the workers in order to address the "chilling

effect" of the dismissals on the unionization effort while the

NLRB resolves the case. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction in 2023.

The 6th Circuit rejected the company's argument that Lipman

should have used a four-factor test before granting the

injunction. That led Starbucks ( SBUX ) to appeal to the Supreme Court.