Joe is an IWW member.

On Tuesday, September 2nd, Joe Richard was fired from Ward's Supermarket. He believes, as do his co-workers, that the firing was illegal and was direct retaliation for his workplace organizing efforts. On August 8th, Joe and 14 other employees in the Natural Foods Department submitted a petition to management requesting an increased employee discount (raising it to 20%, which is not uncommon for the industry) and a regular schedule of employee performance evaluations. Our petition was largely ignored for three weeks while the owners, Billy and Trish Ward, went on vacation. After they returned, on August 25th they held one-on-one meetings with the employees who signed the petition, elaborating a new 'open door' policy, by which employees could have 100% access to management if they had a concern or grievance. Beyond that, the requests listed in our petition were largely ignored.

Little over a week later, Joe was fired, ostensibly for 'stealing' a bag of coffee, which is donated by Sweetwater Coffee Company explicitly for the personal use of Natural Foods Department employees. This free coffee, which was and continues to be intentionally given for employees to drink at work and take home, was routinely taken home and made every morning by numerous Department employees, including Joe. To our knowledge, no employee has ever been punished (either received written warnings or been discharged) for the offense of taking home this free product, which the store never paid a single cent for. Joe didn't receive a written warning (as the employee handbook stipulates is appropriate for minor infractions) but was fired two days after checking out with the coffee in hand (buying eggs and donuts as well, on a Sunday morning).