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Amazon Fires Worker Who Led Strike Over Virus (bloomberg.com) 150

Chris Smalls, an Amazon fulfillment center employee, said the company fired him after he led a strike at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, over coronavirus safety conditions. "Taking action cost me my job," Smalls said Monday in a Bloomberg TV interview. "Because I tried to stand up for something that's right, the company decided to retaliate against me." Bloomberg reports: A group of workers at the Staten Island fulfillment center walked off the job Monday to demand Amazon close the facility for extended cleaning, the latest in a wave of virus-related protests. They say a number of their colleagues there were diagnosed with Covid-19. Organizers say more than 60 workers participated in the protest. In a statement Monday night, New York State Attorney General Letitia James called Smalls' firing "immoral and inhumane." James urged the National Labor Relations Board to investigate the incident and said her office "is considering all legal options" as well.

Amazon confirmed it fired Smalls, saying he violated safety regulations, including failing to abide by a 14-day quarantine required after being exposed to an employee with a confirmed case of Covid-19. "Mr. Smalls received multiple warnings for violating social distancing guidelines and putting the safety of others at risk," Amazon said in a statement. Smalls "was asked to remain home with pay for 14 days, which is a measure we're taking at sites around the world. Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came on site today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk." Smalls called the company's claim "ridiculous" and said he was being retaliated against for his activism. Federal law protects the right of employees to engage in collective action, including strikes, to protest working conditions.

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Amazon Fires Worker Who Led Strike Over Virus

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @07:58PM (#59894874)

    Amazon confirmed it fired Smalls, saying he violated safety regulations, including failing to abide by a 14-day quarantine required after being exposed to an employee with a confirmed case of Covid-19.

    “Mr. Smalls received multiple warnings for violating social distancing guidelines and putting the safety of others at risk,” Amazon said in a statement. Smalls “was asked to remain home with pay for 14 days, which is a measure we’re taking at sites around the world. Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came on site today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk.”

    • sending some home for starting an union move looks bad even more so when it's for REPORTING SAFETY ISSUES and then not telling others about them.

      Let an jury decide

      • by Xenx ( 2211586 )
        I don't fault his intentions, but he sure as hell shouldn't have been putting people at additional risk by being there. Amazon did the right thing by firing him for that alone. That doesn't mean that Amazon didn't want to get rid of him over the strike. It just means that he also did something worth being fired over, giving them grounds to do it.
      • by sabri ( 584428 ) on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @09:50PM (#59895226)

        Let an (sic) jury decide

        Yes, and the jury will hear:

        - Employee was exposed to a co-worker who tested positive;
        - Employee was ordered to quarantine;
        - Employee was ordered to stay off company premises;
        - Employee was still being paid;

        They will also hear:

        -In doing so, employee disregarded a direct order from Amazon;
        - In doing so, employee tresspassed on Amazon property;
        - In doing so, employee potentially exposed Amazon's employees to a life threatening disease;
        - In doing so, employee compromised Amazon's workplace and potentially its business;
        - In doing so, employee potentially compromised the supply-chain that millions of Americans depend on who are quarantined or ordered to shelter-in-place, and depend on Amazon's delivery of products;

        If you want to report safety issues, you can contact OSHA. If you want to unionize, you are free to do so from the comfort of your own home if you are quarantined.

        If you are quarantined because you have been exposed to a life threatening virus, and you chose to disregard your co-workers safety because you want to be a union-hero, you not only deserve to be let go, you also deserve to be prosecuted for violating quarantine orders.

        Be careful about wanting to face a jury.

    • by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @08:31PM (#59894990)

      But he also refutes that description of his actions. It's a he-said/she-said account here. Basically *everyone* in that plant would have been exposed to the worker, and I doubt Amazon told every worker there to stay home.

      • It's a he-said/she-said account here.

        Actually, it's not. It's very easy to verify if he's lying.

        Amazon said there was one confirmed case of COVID-19 at the warehouse as of yesterday.

        And Smalls claims there were 7 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of yesterday, three of which he had personally sent home as their manager. If you need to verify who is lying, just call up the three people that he supposedly sent home. That's it. End of story.

        • Also, anyone ordered home would receive an email confirming the order even if it was given verbally.

          One thing corporations are good at is keeping records and documenting decisions.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • No they only told one, weeks after. The one who had shown up their failings.

      • But he also refutes that description of his actions. It's a he-said/she-said account here. Basically *everyone* in that plant would have been exposed to the worker, and I doubt Amazon told every worker there to stay home.

        That's called "whataboutism". Pointing out a company's actions as they incorrectly do not apply to someone else doesn't in any way refute that a company's existing actions somehow shouldn't apply where they have already been made.

        Honestly that line of thinking "I am not going to follow safety rules because Bob over there wasn't told to follow them" is fantastic grounds for firing someone.

        • My point is that people are automatically assuming that Amazon must be telling the truth, because it's a corporation and they never lie or do other evil acts. And they assume the worker must be lying because he's pro-union. And they base those two accounts solely upon a simplistic simmary on Slashdot without reading the story most of the time.

          • by Cederic ( 9623 )

            Well, Amazon are subject to direct court action, class action lawsuits, regulatory penalties and other health and safety related fines, so they're unlikely to sack an employee that's been in the global media in the past week without due cause.

            Which is why I tend to believe that they did indeed have due cause.

          • by cusco ( 717999 )

            No, I assume that the worker is lying because Amazon is the most data-driven company that I have ever worked at (I do physical security there). If printed out to hand to the NLRB the documentation would probably cover half the parking lot, it's **not** easy to fire someone there, even a contractor. And before people claim that Amazon faked all the records there will be two copies, one for Amazon and a second for the company that he contract through.

            My dad was a union organizer at the factory that he worke

    • Is that actually true?

    • Shill is obvious.

      That was in the balanced summary. I see you only quote one side. You are disgusting.

    • Oh look, a man who led a strike suddenly had a whole bunch of fuckups that led to firing, what a coincidence.

      • by cusco ( 717999 )

        Let me rephrase;

        Oh, look, a guy who had a whole bunch of fuckups in his job history got fired, what a coincidence.

  • by linuxguy ( 98493 ) on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @08:02PM (#59894888) Homepage

    He was offered full pay and asked to stay at home. He is not denying this part. He came to work to complain. He is not denying this part either.

    I am having a lot of trouble feeling bad for this guy.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by stephanruby ( 542433 )

      He was offered full pay and asked to stay at home. He is not denying this part. He came to work to complain. He is not denying this part either. I am having a lot of trouble feeling bad for this guy.

      No, he didn't come to work to complain.

      He came to work to warn others that Amazon was lying to them.

      "That’s a bold face lie because I sent home the third case directly," Smalls said, adding that he knows of a total of seven cases at the facility that employs more than 4,000 people.
      https://abcnews.go.com/Busines... [go.com]

      • by bobbied ( 2522392 ) on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @08:27PM (#59894978)

        He was told to stay home.. He didn't... I'm not feeling sorry for him.

        IF I got told to stay home, with pay, you can bet I'd be at home doing my job holding the couch down cashing their checks, or even running around town shopping if I wanted, but I'd NOT be heading to work.

        IF he wanted to "warn his employees" then he could have and should have picked up the phone and CALLED them. This showing up at work, encouraging a walk out, causing trouble stuff gets you fired..

        • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

          by Rockoon ( 1252108 )

          IF I got told to stay home, with pay, you can bet I'd be at home doing my job holding the couch down cashing their checks

          Talk about selfish....

          IF he wanted to "warn his employees" then he could have and should have picked up the phone and CALLED them.

          Because what everyone has available to them at home... is the phone numbers of all 4000 of his coworkers....

          Maybe you can stop being a retarded, selfish, malevolent fuck. If I look at your post history, will I also discover that you are a liar? Dont fucking reply.

          • Yeah so because he didn't have their phone number and wanted to warn them of danger, he came in and instead endangered their lives....hmmmm sorry but this guy got what he deserved, people like him that don't take self quarantine seriously are why this is spreading so fast.
            • Yeah so because he didn't have their phone number and wanted to warn them of danger, he came in and instead endangered their lives...

              You saw him approaching people closer than 6', without a mask? Touching people while not wearing gloves, perhaps? Some other behavior which - assuming he was an asymptomatic carrier - would risk transmitting the disease? You have evidence other than that he was present somewhere in the vicinity?

              Amazon fired him for returning to the work place. Not specifically for risking

            • Where Amazon was already endangering their lives and all to whom they deliver. This is an incompetent hush up.

            • Where management were lying about infections on their site and refusing to clean, risking far far more.

          • Talk about selfish....

            Following a safety rule to not spread COVID-19 is selfish? ... Okay.

            Please send your full name and address through so we can fire you too for the protection of all our employees. I just want to make sure someone with your line of thinking doesn't work for my organisation.

        • IF I got told to stay home, with pay, you can bet I'd be at home doing my job holding the couch down cashing their checks, or even running around town shopping if I wanted, but I'd NOT be heading to work.

          He had been in direct contact with at least one person who tested positive. There is no way he should have been running around town shopping.

          • IF I got told to stay home, with pay, you can bet I'd be at home doing my job holding the couch down cashing their checks, or even running around town shopping if I wanted, but I'd NOT be heading to work.

            He had been in direct contact with at least one person who tested positive. There is no way he should have been running around town shopping.

            I don't disagree.. I'm just saying that the LAST place I'd show up if I expected to keep my job is work. Id allow necessary trips to the store or to seek medical care, but I'd stay away from work. IMHO - this guy was just seeking his 15 min of fame for this stunt, and for that he deserved to get canned. You don't make your employer look bad on national TV and keep your job.

            Personally, I'd stay home for my 14 days, holding down the couch, ordering takeout and not coming in contact with ANYBODY while bing

            • by cusco ( 717999 )

              You don't make your employer look bad on national TV and keep your job.

              I think he knew he had fucked up beyond salvation and thought if he embarrassed the company enough they'd give him his job back to shut him up.

      • Fair enough. But. He still came back to work to air his grievances while plausibly carrying the plague of our times . Should not your inherent "defend the do-gooder" rationale be tempered with a bit of logical caution?

      • He came to work to warn others that Amazon was lying to them.

        So people on Staten Island don't have cellphones or email?

        • You think you can just call all the Amazon workers at a site. You are being deliberately dishonest "bill".

          • by cusco ( 717999 )

            So although he was their supervisor he couldn't remember the full name of a single person to look them up on Farcebook or LinkedIn to have a **healthy person** spread the word at the site? Must have really sucked as a supervisor.

    • Or any of the many workers and families of workers exposed by basic hygiene failures in Amazon?

  • between being an activist leader fighting the good fight! And being a dweeb! No matter how just and righteous the cause!

    This guy is a dweeb! Might want to move on folks.

    just my 2 cents ;)
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by stephanruby ( 542433 )

      This guy is neither an activist nor a dweeb.

      He's just a good manager. He just told his people the truth about the actual number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the warehouse. That's why he went to work yesterday. He didn't go there to complain. He didn't go there to lead a strike/walkout. He just went there to tell the workers the truth.

      • by PPH ( 736903 )

        He just went there to tell the workers the truth.

        In spite of an order to quarantine himself due to possible exposure? If he was a 'good manager' he could have texted/e-mailed his employees with the truth. From home.

      • That's why he went to work yesterday.

        That's funny, I spent the past 3 weeks telling the truth and I didn't need to physically go to work to do it. This is a problem Alexander Graham Bell solved in 1876.

  • He was sent home with full pay because he was exposed to the virus. instead of staying home he decided to return to company property possibly exposing others. He was protesting that amazon was not doing enough to protect their associates so amazon done exactly what he was wanting, protecting their associates.

    He may have been right about some of the issues, but he was totally wrong showing up on company property possibly exposing others.

  • TFS is flamebait (Score:5, Informative)

    by MrL0G1C ( 867445 ) on Wednesday April 01, 2020 @02:24AM (#59895926) Journal

    If you're going to mentioned that the company fired him for not quarantining then you should also mentioned that:
    1. They did not ask anyone else to quarantine.
    2. They didn't ask him to quarantine until 3 weeks had already passed, IE they deliberately made a stupid request in order to fire him.

    So they didn't fire him because he may have had coronavirus, they fired him because he played a part in a strike.

    • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

      OK so I had already read about this from a decent news source which bothered to get the facts from both sides not the piece of shit called Bloomberg which only printed the companies side of events, perpetuating lies.

      Remember in the future that if an article is on Bloomberg then it's not trustworthy

      • When someone claims they got the true story from a decent news source and fail to cite that source it usually means the source is anything but reliable. feel free to prove me wrong by citing a reputable news source that contradicts this as I despise amazon too. But I can't find any reasonable information that contradicts what Amazon has said and by that alone at this point this guy seems to have gotten what he deserves, would even go so far as to say he should be prosecuted.
        • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

          Obviously not a decent news source.
          https://www.theguardian.com/us... [theguardian.com]

          • no it really isn't all that good, a self acknowledges left leaning news source. But the extra info is seems good even though it says amazon disputes all his claims, thanks. Does raise some serious questions about him though as if it was 3 weeks later why was he trying to get the building shutdown for cleaning, that makes no sense except if he had a grudge to bare. But does sound like Amazon have some serious questions to answer too.
        • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

          Oh but hey, "The spokeswoman added the company permits unlimited unpaid leave for employees who feel uncomfortable working during the outbreak."

          So, that's nice of them because who doesn't like being unpaid vs risking death.

    • That's called "whataboutism". Not following a direct request because it doesn't apply to others or because you disagree with it is no defense against being fired. He could very much have organised a strike from home.

      You picked a side very quickly. Were you at this warehouse? Do you have detailed inside knowledge of this person's whereabouts and connections which led him to be given a quarantine? Did you buy a jump to conclusions mat?

      • by jbengt ( 874751 )
        Believing what Amazon says is just as much jumping to conclusions as believing what the fired worker has been saying. Only, I have no reason to disbelieve the fired worker, but Amazon has been alleged to do similar things in the past as is being alleged now.
    • by Kjella ( 173770 )

      So he got fired for breaching the quarantine in the strike on the 30th. He got quarantined on the 28th. What did he do before the 28th to get singled out? If he was so upset about the corona virus they might have seen him as a rumor monger and trouble maker so they gave him two weeks paid "leave" as hush money. I guess he's operating under the theory that if the quarantine order was on false pretenses, then he wasn't really violating quarantine and then they didn't really have the right to fire him. But Ama

  • Amazonâ(TM)s blunder is hiring people who donâ(TM)t really want or need a job instead of the applicants who really need it.

  • They may have targeted him for "being an activist". That's hard to prove. Amazon, however, officially fired him for violating policy. If this comes to court they will be able to show that he violated policy and put the health of other workers at risk in doing so. They can deny it was anything to do with his activism, and they will win any case brought against them. All because he actually did something wrong.

    Lesson: if you are doing to do something like this, make sure your record is impeccable. Ensur

  • Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came on site today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk."

    Simple yes or no, is it true? Did he return to work despite being told to stay home for 14 days WITH PAY?

    • by jbengt ( 874751 )
      Accoring to him, it's a half-truth. She was working for days after getting tested, but before getting results. He only came into contact with her to tell her to go home (apparently, he had that authority). No one working with her was cited for violating the policy.
  • To me, regardless of he led a strike, or he violated some policy, this is not the time for this crap! There are plenty of people out there who are out of a job and Amazon does pay well for these jobs. There will be a line soon if not already for many of these jobs.

    Protesters, people who "are trying to make a difference" need to focus at the task at hand. Hold the line, till this COVID thing is done. Then protest all you want.

    • by jbengt ( 874751 )
      According to the one fired, a worker had been tested, but had not had results back yet, so kept working, which was Amazon's policy. Then, after a couple of days. she started to get symptoms, and he asked her to go home. So he violated the policy by talking to her for a few minutes, but none of her co-workers violated the policy by working side-by-side with her for days.

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