Renowned Chicago bakery Lost Larson paid more than $2,000 last month to a former employee after the National Labor Relations Board found merit to the worker’s claim that she was fired for banding with colleagues to address workplace concerns.
Lucy Honold, 31, who worked at Lost Larson from November 2020 until her firing Aug. 2, 2021, filed a charge with the NLRB in November. A four-month investigation concluded Honold had been fired in response to “her protected concerted activity of bringing workers’ concerns to the employer’s attention,” NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado said.
Honold was eligible for more than $1,000 in back pay and to be reinstated to her job. Instead of returning to Lost Larson, however, she opted for an additional $1,000 in “front pay” compensation. Lost Larson was also required to post notices about the settlement at its two locations, in Andersonville and Wicker Park, and to email details to anyone who has worked at the bakery and cafe since Honold’s firing.
In interviews with the Tribune, Honold said Lost Larson owner Bobby Schaffer fired her by email while she was on unpaid vacation last summer after she and other employees raised concerns about issues that included pay and COVID-19 safety. Several Lost Larson employees quit without notice two weeks later in solidarity with Honold and over persisting concerns, four of those former employees said in interviews.
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