Fired Augusta Starbucks union organizer reinstated by labor relations judge

Fired Augusta Starbucks union organizer Jaysin Saxton will be back to work later this month, Saxton said on Monday.

"It's total vindication. We knew from the outset what they did was wrong," Saxton said. "... Now they're having to bring me back."

Saxton will start back on June 13, he said, and the union plans for a rally that day. Starbucks did not immediately reply on Monday afternoon to a request for comment.

More: Fired Augusta Starbucks worker testifies before U.S. Senate

Previously: Effort to reinstate fired Augusta Starbucks worker trying to unionize to go before judge

Saxton was fired in August for actions he took during a union protest on July 18 at his job at the Starbucks location on Robert C. Daniel Parkway, just a few months after the store voted to become the first unionized Starbucks in Georgia. He filed an unfair labor practice in regards to his firing, and even testified before the U.S. Senate about the firing earlier this year.

The complaint was taken up by the National Labor Relations Board, and Saxton said his board-appointed attorney filed for an injunction to re-instate him, which was approved by the NLRB judge.

A letter shared by Saxton from Starbucks is dated May 10 and offers an "unconditional offer of interim reinstatement to your former part-time Shift Supervisor position," with the same pay and benefits he would be eligible for if he had stayed employed. It took longer to figure out exactly when he would start back, he said.

The reinstatement is not an admission of wrongdoing on the part of Starbucks, and the unfair labor practice charge will continue at the NLRB. Saxton said the issue of damages and backpay still have to be settled.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Fired Augusta Starbucks organizer Jaysin Saxton reinstated