Demonstrators stand outside the Amazon warehouse on Staten Island in March 2020, protesting what they described as lax sanitation during the height of Covid-19. Photo: Spencer Platt (Getty Images)
Amazon just can’t take a break, at least in its efforts to keep employees engaged.
Gerard Bryson, who was part of the original protests at the company’s JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island at the start of the pandemic, is now allowed to return to work. He also gets compensation for his troubles for two years.
The National Labor Relations Board had previously announced that it agreed to Bryson being illegally fired from the company, but as The Hill reported last month, it has taken much longer for Bryson to be reinstated, in part because of what Bryson’s Attorney said Amazon was holding up the process by failing to meet evidence requirements. Amazon denied any wrongdoing in the litigation process.
Benjamin Green, an administrative justice judge, agreed with the board’s assessment, according to court documents, and ordered Bryson reinstated and paid for two years of lost earnings and compensation for the time he spent looking for another job search. Amazon must also remove any mention of Bryson’s firing from its records.
It’s another black eye for Amazon after its Staten Island plant voted to unionize earlier this month, becoming the first site in the online retail giant’s history to do so. Amazon has since announced that it will appeal the union vote. Bryson told the New York Times that this ruling “changes everything” and that “it will show Amazon can be beaten. It will show that you have to fight for what you believe in.”
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In a statement, Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said they are trying to appeal the judge’s decision, adding that they are “surprised that the NLRB wants every employer to condone Mr. Bryson’s conduct” and that Bryson ” was fired for bullying, swearing and slandering a colleague through a megaphone in front of the workplace.”
Amazon didn’t disclose how much compensation Bryson would receive for the two years he was away from work. The company originally claimed Bryson was fired for harassing colleagues and using “vulgar language” against them, arguing he used racially and sexually charged words in the dispute.
In the court documents, Green references the April 6, 2020 protest when about 10 Amazon employees stood in the facility’s parking lot, which Bryson and others argued should the facility close for cleaning. The judge emphasized that the employees “protested in their free time”. Bryson reportedly got into a heated, recorded argument with a colleague during that protest, who told Bryson, “It’s the only open job, so appreciate it.”
The judge questioned the continuity of events at Amazon. The company claimed that the Amazon employee with whom Bryson argued was non-confrontational, while Bryson was. Green said that wasn’t “quite accurate.” The judge went on to state that Amazon’s account of events was inaccurate compared to video evidence, where Bryson was not heard using “the N or C word” when arguing with his colleague.
The NLRB has previously filed complaints against Amazon for allegedly interrogating and monitoring workers at the Staten Island facility. Despite this, the union vote went in favor of the organizer – 2,654 to 2,131.
This union vote further inspired other retail workers to form workers’ collectives. The Apple Store at Grand Central Station in Manhattan announced yesterday that it is also seeking to form a union.