Trader Joe’s reinstates NYC employee after highly publicized firing Ben Bonnema, the NYC Trader Joe’s employee who was fired last week after raising concerns with the grocer’s CEO over workplace COVID-19 safety protocols, is headed back to work on Monday. Trader Joe’s offered to reinstate Bonnema to his former position at its Upper West Side location on Wednesday night, the Daily Beast reports. Bonnema was first fired from Trader Joe’s on February 26 after sending a letter to company CEO Dan Bane outlining steps that the company should take to upgrade store safety during the pandemic, according to several tweets that Bonnema posted following the incident. The firing attracted national media attention, and public figures, including the former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, called for Bonnema to be reinstated.