NLRB Region-29 Wins Federal Court Order Requiring Amazon to Cease and Desist from Firing Employees for Protected Activities

Staten Island, New York – On November 18, 2022, Judge Diane Gujarati of the United States District Court for the District of Eastern New York issued a Section 10(j) injunction against Amazon.com Services LLC directing Amazon to cease and desist from discharging employees, and from engaging in any like or related conduct, in retaliation for employees engaging in protected activities. The injunction also directs Amazon to post, distribute, and read the Court’s order to employees at the Employer’s Staten Island facility (“JFK8”). The injunction was issued based on a petition for Section 10(j) injunctive relief filed by Kathy Drew King, former Regional Director of Region 29 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) authorizes the NLRB to seek injunctions against employers and unions in federal district courts to ensure that employees' rights will be adequately protected from remedial failure due to the passage of time. The petition alleged that Amazon unlawfully fired an employee at JFK8 for advocating, with his co-workers, for workplace health and safety protections in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and by protesting with his co-workers Amazon’s failure to provide greater safety protections to employees. While the injunction does not order interim reinstatement of the employee at this time, it does order Amazon to cease and desist from further discharging any employees for protected activities under the NLRA, or in any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. If Amazon violates the cease-and-desist order, it could be held in contempt by the court. “The Judge’s order in this case recognizes Amazon’s unlawful conduct and provides the full force of a federal court injunction to prohibit Amazon from further discharging employees for engaging in protected concerted activity,” said Region 29 Brooklyn Director Teresa Poor. “This relief is critical to ensure that Amazon employees can fully and freely exercise their rights to join together and improve their working conditions, including by forming, assisting, or joining a union.” Field Attorneys Matthew Jackson and Evamaria Cox of the NLRB’s Region 29 represented Regional Director Poor in the Section 10(j) proceedings before Judge Gujarati.