No. 23-367October Term 2023Decided Jun 13, 2024
Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney
This case established that federal courts must apply the traditional four-factor test for preliminary injunctions when evaluating requests from the National Labor Relations Board under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act, rather than a more lenient standard.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Jun 13, 2024
- What it's about
This case established that federal courts must apply the traditional four-factor test for preliminary injunctions when evaluating requests from the National Labor Relations Board under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act, rather than a more lenient standard. The ruling arose from a dispute involving Starbucks and unionization efforts where the lower court had originally applied a less rigorous test to reinstate fired employees.
Question presented
What test must courts use to evaluate requests for injunctions under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act?
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit / Decision released Jun 13, 2024
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Documents
Related cases




Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Mar 30, 2026
- Method
- Methodology