USDC Judge Orders Amazon To Stop Violating Workers' Rights To Unionize Across The Nation...

Here's a new installment of our monthly Amazon labor updates, this time from the federal district courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.

Over 32 months ago, an Amazon employee was fired for "shouting back" at another employee, out on the shop floor -- after being heckled by a guy who had used profane invective -- to try to silence the employee. The fired employee was only asking for reasonable COVID-19 precautions at the JFK8 workplace, during the height of the pandemic.

Amazon (according to the court's own opinion) then conducted a high speed, and largely trumped up "investigation", and fired the union advocate, but issued only a warning to the profane heckler.

That alone likely establishes that the firing was pretextual, and more likely an attempt to blunt lawful union organizing. Here's the full 30 plus page opinion, published shortly before the holiday weekend, here. Amazon will of course appeal -- but it is losing most of these battles, now -- nationwide:

. . .[G]iven that the NLRB’s version is “within the range of rationality,” see P & W Elec., Inc., 141 F. Supp. 2d at 329 (quotation marks omitted) – the Court concludes that the record amply supports the conclusion that there is reasonable cause to believe that Bryson was terminated in violation of Section 8(a)(1). Indeed, when viewed in light of the required deference, the record evidence before the Court amply supports Petitioner’s position that Bryson was engaged in protected activity, that Bryson’s protected conduct was a motivating factor in his discharge, and that Respondent’s stated reason for discharging Bryson was pretextual. . . .

Moreover, the ALJ’s findings and conclusion that Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) confirm that a finding of reasonable cause is warranted. In analyzing whether Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by discharging Bryson because of his protected concerted activity, the ALJ considered both the Wright Line standard advanced by Petitioner, as well as the alternative standard from N.L.R.B. v. Burnup & Sims, Inc., 379 U.S. 21 (1964), advanced by Respondent. See ALJ Decision at 11-20 [the ALJ, and the USDC found these precedents unavailing for Amazon]. . . .

Now you know -- and with serious weather threatening some people precious to us in the south. . . we are grateful that all of our grown kids are home safe and sound now, until we meet again in the warm dry Sonoran deserts, as above. Smile. . . .

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