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Law360 (March 4, 2021, 6:29 PM EST ) Trader Joe's has rehired a worker at a New York City store who says he was fired for raising concerns to management about safety conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the worker's attorney confirmed, though the worker will not drop his unfair labor practice charge against the company.
Benjamin Dictor, a partner at Eisner Dictor & Lamadrid PC, said Thursday that Trader Joe's gave an unconditional offer to rehire his client Ben Bonnema, a New York City worker who made headlines last month after tweeting that he was fired for sending a letter to Trader Joe's CEO Dan Bane demanding the store take action to limit the spread of COVID-19. Dictor said the company has agreed to compensate Bonnema for the time he was out of work.
Dictor said Bonnema accepted the offer and will be able to return to the job next week, but he will not be withdrawing an unfair labor practice charge he filed with the National Labor Relations Board last month over his firing.
"In addition to reinstatement, it's important the board conclude its investigation of the matter and seek any remedies it believes are appropriate to make sure that there is no further adverse impact on the rights that the National Labor Relations Act protects," Dictor told Law360.
A copy of Bonnema's unfair labor practice charge was not publicly available.
In the letter to Bane he posted on Twitter on Feb. 26, Bonnema called on Trader Joe's to improve ventilation in the store and put in place a "three-strikes" policy for kicking out customers if they refuse to follow COVID-19 protocols, such as properly wearing a mask. Bonnema said the store was not doing enough to keep workers safe, citing a letter medical experts wrote in February calling on the Biden administration to take additional steps to address airborne spread of the virus indoors.
Trader Joe's responded that Bonnema was fired because he did not "understand our values." The company particularly pointed to his proposed three-strike rule, as well as his suggestion that mask policies should be enforced even against customers with medical conditions that might prevent them from wearing masks, according to a letter Bonnema shared on Twitter.
A Trader Joe's spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dictor said it is important for the charge Bonnema filed to be litigated at the NLRB even once Bonnema returns to work, because incidents of alleged retaliation against workers who advocate for improved conditions can have a chilling effect on other employees.
When the board finds that an employer committed an unfair labor practice, it can issue a host of remedies, including directing the employer to give the worker back pay, as well as posting certain notices in its facilities.
Counsel for Trader Joe's did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bonnema is represented by Benjamin Dictor of Eisner Dictor & Lamadrid PC.
Trader Joe's is represented by Jeffrey Kohn of O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
The case is Trader Joe's, case number 02-CA-273434, before the National Labor Relations Board.
--Editing by Haylee Pearl.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
