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A Starbucks barista fired after voting to unionize a Long Island City cafe has been rehired by the coffee company, which will also have to cough up $21,000 in backpay and penalties as part of a settlement for violating the city’s Fair Workweek Law.
Austin Locke, a six-year Starbucks employee, was fired on July 5, 2022 after the Seattle-based company charged that he violated the company’s COVID protocols and made a false workplace violence claim.
The termination came less than a month after the staff won a National Labor Relations Board vote to unionize the 22-28 31st St. coffee shop.
As first reported by the Daily News, the city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection sued Starbucks after Locke filed a Fair Workweek Law complaint, claiming retaliation and violations of the law’s “just cause” protections.
On Monday, the company reinstated Locke and agreed to pay him for the lost wages and penalties under the law.
“Getting reinstated is not just a win for me but a win for the working class,” said Locke. “Let this be an example to all: In New York City, you can’t mess with workers.”
Though Starbucks settled the case and rehired the barista, the company did not admit to any wrongdoing.
“While we continue to disagree with the city’s interpretation of what constitutes egregious misconduct under the Just Cause law, we have agreed to reinstate Mr. Locke and reduce his corrective action to a written warning for violation of health and safety protocols,” spokesman Andrew Trull said.
The settlement comes a week after more than two dozen Starbucks workers filed their own Fair Workweek Law complaints to DCWP against the company.
They say that their employer has cut hours and given them erratic schedules to deter further unionization.
The company denied the claim.