Judge orders Amazon to refrain from retaliating against union organizers

A US federal judge has issued a cease-and-desist order directing Amazon to not retaliate against employees involved in workplace activism, in a case seeking the reinstatement of a fired employee.

US District Judge Diane Gujarati ruled there was "reasonable cause" to believe Amazon committed an unfair labor practice by firing Bryson.

The case was brought by the National Labor Relations Board in March.

However, the ruling also hands a loss to the federal labor agency that sued the company earlier this year.

According to the agency, Amazon’s termination of the former employee, Gerald Bryson, who was involved in organizing a company warehouse union on Staten Island, New York, was unlawful and would have a chilling effect on organizing.

The agency added that by not reinstating Bryson in his role, the workers would think they could not to protect their labor rights under federal law.

But Gujarati denied the agency’s request to reinstate Bryson, determining that the NLRB did not present evidence that the termination is having a considerable effect on organizing efforts by employees or the Amazon Labor Union.

Gujarati also noted Bryson was fired before the union was formed, making it different from other cases where organizing support was shown to have slowed down after a union activist’s firing.

Bryson was fired in April 2020, weeks after taking part in a demonstration against working conditions during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. During a second protest, he was not at work and got into a fight with another worker.

After conducting its inquiry into the conflict, Amazon fired Bryson because he had violated the business's policy against using profanity. The business disputes that the firing was related to organizing efforts.