Amazon Fires Christian Smalls for Organizing COVID Safety Protest

On March 30, 2020, Amazon fired warehouse worker Christian Smalls hours after he organized a walkout at the Staten Island JFK8 facility to protest inadequate COVID-19 safety measures. The termination occurred during the early, terrifying weeks of the pandemic when frontline workers faced exposure to a deadly virus with limited knowledge, inadequate protective equipment, and minimal employer safety protocols. Days later, leaked internal documents revealed that Amazon executives, in a meeting that included CEO Jeff Bezos, had discussed a strategy to smear Smalls as “not smart or articulate” and make him “the face of the entire union/organizing movement” to discredit worker safety concerns.

The COVID Crisis at Amazon Warehouses

In March 2020, as COVID-19 spread rapidly across the United States, Amazon warehouse workers found themselves classified as “essential workers” required to continue working in crowded facilities where social distancing was difficult and protective equipment was scarce. Workers at the Staten Island JFK8 facility—one of Amazon’s largest fulfillment centers—reported:

• Inadequate supplies of masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer
• Inability to maintain six-foot social distancing in break rooms and workstations
• Insufficient cleaning of high-touch surfaces
• Continued enforcement of rigid productivity quotas that prevented workers from taking time to sanitize equipment or wash hands
• Lack of transparency about COVID exposures and infections at the facility

Christian Smalls, a management assistant at JFK8, became increasingly concerned as workers tested positive for COVID-19 and the company failed to implement adequate safety measures or inform workers of exposures. When he learned that someone he had worked closely with tested positive, he was told to self-quarantine for 14 days with pay. However, he discovered that other workers who had contact with infected colleagues were not being informed or required to quarantine.

The March 30 Walkout

Despite being on paid quarantine, Christian Smalls organized a walkout for March 30, 2020, to demand:

• Immediate closure of the facility for deep cleaning after positive cases
• Testing for all workers who had contact with infected colleagues
• Paid sick leave for all workers required to quarantine
• Transparent communication about COVID cases and exposures
• Adequate supplies of protective equipment

On the day of the walkout, Smalls returned to the facility to support the approximately 50-100 workers who participated. The workers gathered outside the warehouse to protest the safety conditions and demand better protection from a virus that had already killed thousands of Americans and was overwhelming hospitals in New York City.

Immediate Termination and Amazon’s Justification

Hours after the walkout, Amazon fired Christian Smalls. The company’s stated reason: he had violated social distancing requirements by returning to the facility while on paid quarantine. Amazon claimed Smalls had endangered other workers by coming to work during his mandatory isolation period.

The justification was deeply cynical:

• Smalls was on quarantine precisely because Amazon had exposed him to COVID through inadequate safety measures
• He returned to the facility to advocate for better protection for his coworkers
• Amazon was simultaneously requiring thousands of workers to work in crowded conditions with inadequate distancing
• The company was enforcing productivity quotas that made meaningful social distancing impossible
• Amazon had not implemented the safety measures Smalls was protesting for

The termination occurred with striking rapidity, suggesting it was a predetermined response to the organizing rather than a considered decision about safety protocol violations. Amazon’s willingness to invoke safety concerns to fire a worker protesting inadequate safety revealed the company’s priorities: suppressing worker organizing took precedence over actual safety.

The Leaked Memo: “Not Smart or Articulate”

On April 2, 2020, Vice News obtained leaked notes from an internal Amazon executive meeting that took place shortly after Smalls’s termination. The meeting included CEO Jeff Bezos and top Amazon leadership discussing the company’s response to worker activism around COVID safety. The notes, written by Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky, revealed a deliberate strategy to discredit Smalls:

Zapolsky wrote: “He’s not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position than simply explaining for the umpteenth time how we’re trying to protect workers.”

The memo explicitly recommended making Smalls “the face of the entire union/organizing movement,” calculating that doing so would undermine broader worker concerns about safety and organizing. The strategy was to personalize the conflict, attack Smalls’s character and intelligence, and thereby avoid addressing the substantive safety issues he had raised.

Racist and Classist Dimensions

The characterization of Smalls as “not smart or articulate” immediately drew accusations of racism. Smalls is Black, and the language echoed historical racist tropes used to dismiss and demean Black workers, activists, and leaders. The description was particularly galling given that:

• Smalls had successfully organized a walkout during a pandemic, demonstrating considerable organizational skills
• He had been articulate enough in media appearances to generate significant coverage and support
• He was later interviewed by major news outlets and appeared before Congress, consistently presenting clear and compelling arguments
• The memo itself demonstrated Amazon leadership’s view that character assassination based on racist stereotypes was a viable PR strategy

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded: “Amazon’s attempt to smear Chris Smalls, one of their own warehouse workers, as ’not smart or articulate’ is a racist & classist PR campaign.” The leaked memo transformed what could have been a routine labor dispute into a national scandal that exposed Amazon’s corporate culture and attitudes toward workers, particularly Black workers who dared to organize.

David Zapolsky’s Non-Apology

After the leak, Zapolsky issued a statement claiming his “comments were personal and emotional” and that “I was frustrated and upset that an Amazon employee would endanger the health and safety of other Amazonians by repeatedly returning to the premises after having been warned to quarantine himself after exposure to virus Covid-19.”

The statement was notable for what it didn’t include:

• No retraction of the characterization of Smalls as “not smart or articulate”
• No acknowledgment that the comments were racist or inappropriate
• No explanation for why Amazon’s General Counsel thought racist character assassination was an appropriate PR strategy
• No apology to Smalls himself
• No admission that Amazon’s COVID safety measures were inadequate

The defensive, non-apologetic tone suggested Amazon saw the leak as a PR problem rather than a fundamental revelation of corporate values that treated worker organizing as a threat to be destroyed through personal attacks rather than a legitimate expression of safety concerns.

Tim Bray’s Resignation: Inside Dissent

The Christian Smalls firing and leaked memo prompted an extraordinary public resignation from a senior Amazon leader. Tim Bray, a Vice President and Distinguished Engineer at Amazon Web Services—one of the company’s most senior technical positions—resigned on April 29, 2020, publishing a blog post titled “Bye, Amazon.”

Bray wrote: “I’m snapping a long streak of no-bloggage to share some background on my recent departure from Amazon… I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of COVID-19.”

He specifically cited the Smalls firing and the leaked memo: “The justifications and tactics were sub-par even by modern standards, and the memo leaked. I’m not going to dwell on it here except to say that the victims weren’t abstract entities but real people; here are some of their names: Courtney Bowden, Gerald Bryson, Maren Costa, Emily Cunningham, Bashir Mohamed, and Chris Smalls.”

Bray’s resignation letter provided rare insight into internal Amazon dissent, revealing that even high-level employees were troubled by the company’s treatment of warehouse workers and its response to COVID organizing. His characterization of the smear tactics as “sub-par even by modern standards” suggested sophisticated insiders recognized the memo as extraordinary in its crudeness and racism.

Broader Pattern: Firing Multiple Organizers

The Smalls termination was not isolated. In the following weeks, Amazon fired several other workers who had raised COVID safety concerns or criticized the company’s response:

• Bashir Mohamed: Fired from the Minnesota fulfillment center after organizing around safety concerns
• Courtney Bowden: Fired from the DCH1 facility in Chicago after raising safety issues
• Gerald Bryson: Fired from JFK8 after protesting Smalls’s termination
• Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa: Fired from Seattle headquarters after circulating a petition supporting warehouse workers

This wave of terminations revealed a coordinated strategy to suppress worker organizing around COVID safety. Amazon was willing to risk legal challenges, regulatory scrutiny, and public backlash to demonstrate to workers that speaking out would result in termination.

Investigations and Legal Challenges

The Smalls firing triggered multiple investigations and legal actions:

• New York Attorney General: Letitia James began investigating whether the termination violated New York labor laws protecting workers who report safety concerns
• National Labor Relations Board: Filed a complaint alleging Amazon illegally fired Smalls in retaliation for protected organizing activity
• Congressional scrutiny: House and Senate members called for investigations into Amazon’s labor practices and COVID response

However, these investigations largely resulted in minimal consequences for Amazon, demonstrating the limitations of regulatory enforcement against powerful corporations.

Significance: Pandemic Union Busting and the Birth of ALU

The Christian Smalls firing exemplified corporate willingness to exploit a deadly pandemic to suppress worker organizing. Amazon used COVID safety protocols—which the company itself was violating through inadequate warehouse protections—as a pretext to fire the most visible organizer demanding better safety.

The leaked memo’s racist language revealed how elite corporate decision-makers viewed warehouse workers, particularly Black workers: as not smart or articulate enough to represent themselves, whose concerns could be dismissed through character attacks rather than substantive engagement. The incident demonstrated that even during a pandemic that was killing thousands of Americans daily, Amazon prioritized union suppression over worker safety or public health.

However, the firing also radicalized Christian Smalls and contributed to one of the most significant labor organizing victories in recent decades. After his termination, Smalls dedicated himself to unionizing Amazon workers, founding the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) as an independent, worker-led union rather than affiliating with established labor organizations.

On April 1, 2022—almost exactly two years after his firing—the ALU won a historic union election at the same Staten Island JFK8 facility where Smalls had been fired. Amazon had spent millions on anti-union consultants and run an aggressive campaign to defeat the union. The victory shocked labor experts and demonstrated that workers could successfully organize even the most virulently anti-union corporations.

In a deeply satisfying irony, Amazon’s strategy to make Smalls “the face of the entire union/organizing movement” backfired spectacularly. Smalls did indeed become the face of Amazon organizing—but as an inspiring leader who beat the company rather than as a discredited figure who undermined the movement. His media appearances demonstrated the racism of calling him “not smart or articulate,” as he proved to be an exceptionally effective communicator and organizer.

The Christian Smalls firing and smear campaign thus became a case study in how corporate overreach and racism could backfire, galvanizing rather than suppressing worker organizing. The incident revealed both the brutal tactics corporations would employ to prevent unionization and the resilience of workers who continued organizing despite retaliation, character assassination, and overwhelming corporate resources deployed against them.