judge has decided
Amazon has to rehire warehouse workers who were fired after Corona protests
Many Amazon workers felt poorly informed and inadequately protected from the virus in the face of the corona crisis
© Imago Images
Two years ago, a warehouse worker was fired from Amazon after protesting working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic. Now a court has decided that the company must rehire the man.
Two years ago, protests against the company’s handling of the corona virus increased in Amazon’s warehouses in the USA. One of them was Gerald Bryson. The warehouse worker was fired during the pandemic. He had previously led a protest calling on Amazon to do more to protect employees from Covid-19. Bryson complained about his firing to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (NLRB) in June 2020, claiming that Amazon retaliated against him. Now an administrative judge agreed with him.
As reported by the Associated Press news agency, the judge ruled that the dismissal was “unlawful” and that Amazon must give Bryson his job and reimburse him for lost wages and benefits as a result of his “discriminatory dismissal”.
Bryson took over protests from Chris Smalls
Bryson first attended a labor conditions protest in March 2020, led by Christian Smalls, another warehouse worker who was fired by the online retail giant. After Smalls was fired, Bryson led another protest outside the warehouse in April 2020. During the protest, Bryson got into an argument with another worker. He was later fired for violating Amazon’s profanity policy.
The court filing details an altercation between Bryson and an employee, both of whom used profanity during a heated argument that lasted several minutes. Accordingly, the woman is said to have started the argument and twice tried to provoke Bryson into a physical altercation with her, which he did not do. The woman received a “first warning”.
The woman also told Bryson, who is black, to “go back to the Bronx,” which the judge could interpret as “racist” since “he’s African American and he might wonder why anyone, regardless of race, would assume would say he’s from the Bronx”.
Judge: Amazon acted rashly
Bryson testified that he reported the remark to an Amazon executive who spoke to him about the incident. The manager denied this. However, the judge echoed Bryson’s account, saying it was unlikely that he “would not pass on such a striking remark, to which he reacted strongly”.
The judge stated in his decision that Amazon had jumped the judgment and conducted a “biased investigation” into the dispute aimed at blaming only Bryson for the incident, adding that the company blamed Bryson for its “protected concerted action”. dismissed instead of giving a fair assessment of the incident.
Amazon spokeswoman announces appeal
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a statement that the company will appeal the verdict. “We disagree with this decision and are surprised that the NLRB would require an employer to condone Mr. Bryson’s conduct,” Nantel said. “Mr. Bryson was fired for using a bullhorn to bully, abuse and defame a female employee outside the workplace. We do not condone this type of behavior in our workplace and intend to appeal to the NLRB.”
After the layoffs at Amazon two years ago, Vice President Tim Bray also quit his job in May 2020 and later explained his decision in a blog post: “Throwing out protesters is not a side effect of macroeconomic constraints or the functioning of the free market,” he is certain . “It’s a sign of a poison running through the veins of corporate culture. And I don’t want to give or drink that poison.”
Watch the video: An Amazon department store in the US state of Illinois was hit by a tornado last Friday – six people died. While the camp lies in ruins, the helpers are cautiously optimistic.
Source: Associated Press