A barista at a beloved area coffee shop claims he was wrongly terminated over the summer for his union affiliation and is seeking legal action against his former employer.

Jeff Bauer, 41, had worked at at Seventh Avenue and Lincoln Place for almost a year when he was terminated. Last Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided to issue a complaint against the coffee shop. According to Bauer, he was constantly praised by management as a model employee and even offered the manager position, which he turned down.

"Politically as an anarchist and union organizer, it didn't coincide with my politics," Bauer said. Then Bauer said he began organizing a May Day benefit for his union, the International Workers of the World (also known as the Wobblies). The IWW is an international union that believes all workers should be united and the wage system must be abolished.

Bauer began inviting his coworkers to organize, and he believes someone leaked his union affiliation to management. Bauer said manager Raphael Bernadine questioned him about his union membership. "Suddenly I went from a model employee to being the worst worker," Bauer recalled.

But Store Manager Raphael Bernadine said Bauer's accusations are entirely false.

"Nobody knew he was in a union. I can swear to that," Bernadine said.

In early June, Bauer said a confrontation between a coworker and Bernadine's boyfriend led to a screaming fight in the basement of the coffee shop. During and after the fight, the former barista said he was left to work the coffee shop alone for three hours. "I was choking back tears," Bauer said. "When customers asked what was wrong, I answered honestly and explained the incident to customers and expressed anger at the hostile work conditions."