Starbucks scraps vaccine mandate

Starbucks employs 228,000 people in the U.S

Employees at Starbucks are no longer required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Roughly a week after the Supreme Court reversed President's Biden workplace vaccine mandate, the coffee chain is following suit, according to The Associated Press. 

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"We respect the Court’s ruling and will comply," Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver wrote in a memo to employees. 

Last week, the Supreme Court issued mixed rulings in a pair of cases challenging Biden administration COVID-19 vaccine mandates, allowing the requirement for certain health care workers to go into effect while blocking enforcement of a mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees.

Still, the coffee chain is encouraging all workers to be vaccinated and boosted against the virus. 

"I want to emphasize that we continue to believe strongly in the spirit and intent of the mandate," Culver added. "Thank you to the more than 90 percent of partners who have already disclosed their vaccination status, and to the vast majority who are now fully vaccinated."

Starbucks employs 228,000 people in the U.S. 

The company is facing a rise in workers wanting to unionize. Last year, employees in New York voted to establish the first unionized restaurant among the coffee chain’s thousands of corporate-run U.S. sites.  

Since then, workers in cities including Boston; Chicago; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle have petitioned to unionize, according to reports. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.