Amazon must reinstate 'unlawfully' fired worker, judge rules

The worker was fired from the Staten Island fulfilment center after a protest two years ago.

Benjamin Green, an administrative law judge, agreed with the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, who said that the firing of Gerald Bryson in 2020 was linked to him protesting safety conditions, rather than as a result of him exchanging insults with a colleague who wanted the center to stay open.

It is necessary for Amazon to pay the wages that have been lost.

It will show that Amazon can be defeated. It will show you that you have to fight for what you believe in.

The Staten Island facility that Bryson was fired from is the same one that made headlines after becoming Amazon's first unionized U.S. workplace. The former Amazon employee who organized the effort was fired in 2020.

Given Amazon's history of worker relations, the unionization and rehiring are notable. The company has been accused of union busting in the past after it used tactics to encourage workers at a factory in Alabama to vote no in a union election in 2021, which resulted in the effort failing.

An Amazon spokesman told the New York Times that the company will appeal the latest ruling, but for now it is another victory for workers.