Grocery store chain Trader Joe’s is facing new work-related allegations.
This time, allegations are coming from prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which allege that a Louisville, Kentucky-based Trader Joe’s illegally questioned employees and threatened to take away their pay raises ahead of a January 2023 union vote meeting.
“It is the first step in the NLRB’s General Counsel litigating the allegations after investigating the charges and finding merit,” the independent federal agency said.
Moreover, the agency said it “will continue to seek settlement,” according to an NLRB spokesperson who shared the agency’s update with Quartz. The complaint and notice of hearing were made yesterday.
Quartz reached out to Trader Joe’s for comment and will update accordingly.
If both parties can’t reach an agreement, a hearing will be held with an NLRB administrative law judge (ALJ), the general counsel said.
Depending on the ALJ’s decision, the outcome could mean appealing to the Board and then to a federal appeals court, the agency added.
This isn’t the first instance in which Trader Joe’s has found itself at odds with the government agency. In January, at a labor board hearing related to allegations of union activism retaliation, an attorney representing Trader Joe’s said the agency was “structured unconstitutionally.”
The latest allegation is just one of many Trader Joe’s has to address going forward. Currently, there are 62 other unfair labor practice charges against Trader Joe’s that regional officers are still processing, and that have not yet advanced to a settlement or complaint, according to a NLRB spokesperson.