A More Tailored Approach: Second Circuit Rejects NLRB’s Dress Code Standard

On September 2, 2026, in Siren Retail Corp., d/b/a Starbucks Reserve Roastery v. NLRB, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated and remanded the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or “Board”) 2024 decision finding that Starbucks unlawfully prohibited workers at a Manhattan coffee shop from wearing union pins and shirts. The Court rejected the NLRB’s standard for analyzing workplace dress code rules established in Tesla, Inc., 371 NLRB No. 131 (2022), and remanded the case for further consideration.

Background

The seminal 1945 Supreme Court decision Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB recognized that workers have a protected right under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “Act”) to wear union insignia in the workplace while acknowledging that employers have legitimate reasons to restrict that right. These competing interests must be balanced. Pursuant to Republic Aviation, the Board has long applied a standard whereby a workplace dress code will not