A judge ordered Amazon to reinstate an employee after determining he was unlawfully fired for protesting the safety conditions inside the Big Tech company’s Staten Island warehouse early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amazon “engaged in an unfair labor practice” and must offer reinstatement to Gerald Bryson, pay him two years of earnings, and remove any reference to his firing from its files, according to Administrative Law Judge Benjamin Green’s Monday ruling.
Bryson was protesting outside the Amazon facility on April 6, 2020, when he got into an argument with another employee who had been on a break. The two began to use obscenities, according to court filings released by the National Labor Relations Board. In the argument, Bryson said that Amazon should close its warehouse because it failed to provide sufficient COVID-19 protections for workers. The other employee replied, “It’s the only f***ing job open, so appreciate it.”
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Amazon claims it investigated the argument, and the company fired Bryson for violating Amazon’s policy against “abusive, vulgar, or harassing language.” The company only gave the other employee a written warning, according to court filings.
The NLRB took up Bryson’s case last month, arguing the firing was in retaliation for his protesting. Green concurred and ruled in favor of Bryson’s reinstatement. Green argued the case “contains considerable evidence that [Amazon’s] stated reason for discharging Bryson was mere pretext for its true discriminatory motive.”
“For me to win and walk back through those doors changes everything,” Bryson told the New York Times. “It will show that Amazon can be beaten. It will show you have to fight for what you believe in.”
“We strongly disagree with this ruling and are surprised the NLRB would want any employer to condone Mr. Bryson’s behavior,” Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel told the Washington Examiner. “Mr. Bryson was fired for bullying, cursing at, and defaming a female co-worker over a bullhorn in front of the workplace. What’s more, this was all broadcast on social media. He’s remained unapologetic and the videos remain online to this day. We do not tolerate that type of conduct in our workplace and intend to file an appeal with the NLRB.”
The Staten Island warehouse where Bryson was employed was the first Amazon warehouse to unionize after a 2,654 to 2,131 vote earlier this month.
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Amazon warehouses have come under additional scrutiny due to their constant struggles with safety and wages. An April 12 report revealed that Amazon warehouse injuries rose 20% in 2021, and an April 5 report also found that Amazon paid its interns three times more than its warehouse and delivery workers.
