Judge rules Amazon must reinstate fired warehouse worker

Amazon must now reinstate a former warehouse worker who was fired during the initial days of the pandemic. The judge ruled that Amazon unlawfully terminated the worker for leading a protest demanding more protection against COVID-19.

Gerald Bryson was a worker at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse. The dispute has been ongoing since June 2020 when Bryson filed an unfair labor practices complaint with The National Labor Relations Board claiming that Amazon had retaliated against his efforts.

The NLRB was established later in the year. saidIt found merit to Bryson’s claim that Amazon illegally fired his for organizing in the workplace. Amazon refused to accept the findings and filed a formal complaint against Amazon. This triggered a lengthy administrative court procedure.

On Monday, administrative law judge Benjamin Green saidAmazon must give Bryson back his job, along with lost wages and benefits due to his “discriminatory dismissal.”

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Bryson was the first to take part in the March 2020 protest against working conditions by Chris Smalls. Smalls is another warehouse worker who was fired by Amazon. Smalls is now leading the Amazon Labor Union. The nascent union won an election earlier this month at the Amazon facility, where Smalls and Bryson worked.

Bryson held another protest outside the warehouse in April 2020 after Smalls was fired. Bryson was off his job during the protest and got into a fight with another worker. Bryson was later fired after he violated Amazon’s vulgar-language policy.

Court filings detail the incident between Bryson (and a female employee) in which they argued. A recording of their argument, which was provided by the NLRB, showed Bryson using profanities and the woman in a heated exchange that lasted for several minutes. According to the agency, the woman initiated the argument and tried twice to provoke Bryson into a physical altercation, which he didn’t do. The “first warning” was issued to the woman.

Bryson, who was Black, was also told by the woman to “go back the Bronx,” which was accepted by the judge saidBryson could be considered a “racial” as “since he was African-American and might ask why, other then his race, would someone assume that he is from Bronx.”

Bryson said that he spoke to an Amazon manager about the incident and that they had discussed it with him. Bryson has denied that he made a racial reference to his manager. Judge Bryson ruled in Bryson’s favor, noting that it was unlikely that he would “fail so prominently to convey such an egregious remark to which his strong reaction.”

The judge saidHe ruled that Amazon had rushed to make a decision and conducted a “skewed probe” into the argument to try to find Bryson responsible. Amazon also stated that they wanted to discharge Bryson from the company for his “protected coordinated activity” rather than evaluating the facts fairly.

Greene was involved in the investigation of the altercation. saidAmazon “prefer not to get information from anyone who was protesting alongside Bryson, even though that person was most likely in the best position for explaining what happened.”

Instead, he saidMultiple witness accounts of the incident were submitted by the company. He added that he thought it was unlikely the statements were made “unless such account were solicited from”

The NLRB had also pushed Bryson to be reinstated in a federal suit filed last month. It used a provision from the National Labor Relations Act, which allows it to seek temporary relief while a case moves through the administrative process. Amazon used the case to challenge the Staten Island election results. It accused Amazon of trying to reinstate Bryson in the lead up to the election.