Zuzana Murarova

• Starbucks Corporation, 06-CA-294667, JD-40-23 (2023): 

Led trial team, securing a comprehensive victory against Starbucks in a high-profile organizing case filed by Workers United. The ALJ found that Starbucks unlawfully interrogated, disciplined, terminated, and threatened pro-union employees, including threats of store closures and targeted hour reductions, violating Sections 8(a)(1), (3), and (5) of the NLRA. This case was part of a nationwide campaign and represents a major precedent in service-sector organizing.

• Logmet, LLC, 371 NLRB No. 40 (Dec. 1, 2021): 

Successfully litigated a complex case involving unilateral changes by a successor employer. After a change in federal contractors at a government air force base, the new employer made changes, including to employees’ benefits. Zuzana argued—and the Administrative Law Judge and Board agreed—that the employer was a perfectly clear successor, triggering obligations to retain existing terms and conditions of employment until new conditions were negotiated for the employees. This decision reinforced critical NLRA principles governing federal contractor transitions and was a significant win for maintaining collective bargaining continuity and protecting workers’ rights in the face of employer transitions.

• Denholm v. Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete, LLC, No. 5:20-CV-00320-REW (E.D. Ky. 2021): Obtained a federal district court injunction requiring the employer to reopen a partially shuttered plant, reinstate workers, and cease unfair labor practices during an organizing campaign.
• Nolan Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Centerfold Club, 370 NLRB No. 2 (2020):

Successfully litigated case involving the unlawful discharge of a dancer who was misclassified as an independent contractor. The Board held that the dancer was, in fact, an employee under the NLRA and found that her termination—following concerted protest over workplace conditions and the employer’s discovery of her prior NLRB filings—violated Sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(4). The decision reinforced worker protections even in nontraditional workplaces and established important precedent on employee status and rights.

• Justice Energy, Inc. 09-CA-231106 (2020), 2020 WL 1182466, adopting ALJD in underlying case: Successfully tried and won a case challenging an employer’s unilateral and material changes to employee health insurance benefits and other working conditions. Secured an ALJ decision, adopted by the Board, ordering the employer to restore contractually guaranteed benefits and compensate employees for all resulting losses. The ruling upheld core principles of the duty to bargain and contract enforcement under the NLRA.
• AdvancePierre Foods, Inc., 366 NLRB No. 133 (2018): 

Successfully litigated a complex case involving surveillance, discipline, solicitation of grievances, and the termination of a union leader during a union organizing drive. The ruling reaffirmed core NLRA protections during organizing drives and delivered a comprehensive win for the rights of employees to freely engage in union activity.

• Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, LLC, 366 NLRB No. 131 (2018):

Secured a unanimous Board decision establishing that employee was engaging in protected concerted activity when he wrote “whore board” on overtime sign-up sheets to protest a unilateral change in overtime policy. The Board found that the employee’s suspension and termination based on those writings violated Sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the NLRA, rejecting the employer’s defense that the conduct constituted non-protected vandalism. The Board confirmed that workers’ rights are not forfeited through colorful or unorthodox expression.