Fired Amazon worker speaks out: 'I don't want my job back'
Reporting by Stacy Jackman and Nurys Castillo
Workers across the country are pushing back against conditions they say are putting their health in jeopardy during the coronavirus outbreak, and one man says he was fired from Amazon for speaking out.
Christian Smalls says he was terminated from his job at a New York Amazon warehouse, in Staten Island, after organizing a protest this past Monday to raise awareness of what he says is an unsafe work environment.
Yahoo Lifestyle spoke with Smalls, who shared that he organized the protest in order to get better protection gear for employees and added sanitization of the building after at least one worker tested positive for COVID-19.
“I decided to take action against the company and make a statement that something has to be done. These people are afraid to come to work and I don’t blame them,” he says.
“The nurses, the doctors, the first responders, they don’t even have gloves and masks and the proper gear. What makes you think the retail industry do? That’s the question they need to ask. Yeah, we’ve got gloves. The gloves are meant for picking up boxes. They’re not latex. We don’t have masks,” says Smalls.
“That’s not enough PPE,” he adds. “That’s not enough to protect everybody. We’re not protected. We’re unsafe.”
Following the protest, Smalls says he was terminated by the company for speaking out.
“I was trying to build the relationship between employees and management and the higher-ups, the VPs, Jeff Bezos himself, and they dropped the ball. They answered with a termination. That shows you right there that they don’t care about people,” he says.
In a statement provided to Yahoo Lifestyle, Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty denied the allegation that Smalls was fired for his participation in the protest, writing:
We did not terminate Mr. Smalls employment for organizing a 15-person protest. We terminated his employment for putting the health and safety of others at risk and violations of his terms of his employment. Mr. Smalls received multiple warnings for violating social distancing guidelines. He was also found to have had close contact with a diagnosed associate with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and 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 onsite further putting the teams at risk.
Despite Amazon’s denial, New York Attorney General Letitia James has called for an investigation into Smalls’s firing, saying, in part, “It is disgraceful that Amazon would terminate an employee who bravely stood up to protect himself and his colleagues.”
Smalls says he welcomes an investigation, but isn’t interested in returning to his old job.
“I don’t want my job back. They need to investigate the wrongful termination though because it’s scary for people that do want to speak up. Maybe other people want to speak up and they’re scared to lose their job. It shouldn't happen like that,” he says.
“Take a page from Mark Cuban’s book,” Smalls said. “He has his people home right now with pay,” he adds.
Cuban publicly committed to paying hourly workers for the six missed games at the American Airlines Center, which is the home of the basketball team he owns, the Dallas Mavericks.
Mavericks announce plans to help @AACenter hourly staffers. pic.twitter.com/sueZVISskF
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) March 13, 2020
Smalls doesn’t see his termination as the end of his battle with Amazon.
“I’m going to continue to fight and I’m going to continue to stand with my people and support them,” he says.
He adds, “I had to take action and I did. I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing and watch people get sick.”
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHO’s resource guides.
