In today’s news and commentary, EEOC drops its request for UPenn’s Jewish staff, Starbucks wins against mail-in ballots, and Zohran Mamdani appoints Lina Khan.

On Thursday, July 23rd, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the University of Pennsylvania settled their dispute over UPenn’s refusal to comply with the EEOC’s subpoena requesting the identities of UPenn’s Jewish workers. The EEOC agreed to stop pursuing the subpoena’s enforcement. UPenn agreed to drop its case in the Third Circuit challenging the subpoena. The parties entered into a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal in that case on Thursday. UPenn filed its Third Circuit appeal after, in March, a lower court judge ruled that UPenn had to comply with most of the subpoena’s requests. The judge described the subpoena as “ineptly worded,” though conceded that “the request had an understandable purpose—to obtain in a narrowly tailored way, as opposed to seeking information on all university employees, information on individuals in Penn’s Jewish community who could have experienced or witnessed antisemitism in the workplace.” About the settlement, a UPenn spokesperson said: “With the support of many members of the community who have stood with Penn throughout, the University has been able to protect its employees’ rights and none of the subpoenaed personal contact information was disclosed.”

On Wednesday, July 22nd, Starbucks won again at the NLRB, preventing the unionization of a Seattle cafe by two hand-delivered mail-in ballots. The Seattle workers voted 6-4 to unionize. However, two of those ballots were hand-delivered to the NLRB regional office. After Starbucks objected to these two votes. A divided Board ruled that its rules prohibit such hand delivery. This left the union election at a 4-4 tie, and the union failed to garner the required majority. The sole dissent, from the Board’s sole Democratic member, David Prouty, said that, actually, nothing in the Board’s rules prevent hand delivery. Though most Board elections in recent years take place in-person, the unionization vote in question took place in May 2022. Due to Covid-19, the Board frequently held mail-in elections, as a safety precaution. While the Board ruled in Starbucks’ favor on this issue, it unanimously rejected Starbucks’ objections claiming misconduct by Board personnel and the Starbucks Workers United union.

On Wednesday, July 22nd, Mayor of NYC Zohran Mamdani appointed Lina Khan, former Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, to chair the board of NYC’s Economic Development Corporation. The EDC is a non-profit organization and NYC’s official economic development agency. The EDC’s capital contributes to over 100 active real estate and infrastructure projects. Khan’s appointment signals a change in the EDC’s role, as some have criticized the EDC for being too aligned with billionaire and corporate interests. Khan, an associate professor at Columbia Law School, brings her history of progressive and pro-worker policies from her time at Biden’s FTC, such as banning non-compete clauses. Continuing this reputation, as chair, Khan plans to “make sure that the EDC can deliver an economy for our city that is affordable, efficient, and resilient.”