His parents died. Then Amazon fired him for seeking time off, a worker’s suit alleges

An Amazon employee at a Bakersfield warehouse alleges the corporate fired him final month for in search of time without work to grieve his dad and mom’ deaths, based on a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Kern County Superior Court docket.

Scott Brock, who labored at Amazon’s BFL1 fullfillment middle, misplaced each his dad and mom, Mary Massengale Brock and Curtis Harold Brock, in late January, solely six days aside, based on the grievance.

When Brock requested three further days of bereavement depart after his father died, Amazon’s human sources division requested to see an obituary. Brock submitted the obituary for each his dad and mom, however on Feb. 2, Amazon denied his request for time without work and subsequently terminated his employment, the grievance alleges.

Brock is suing the corporate for wrongful termination and violating state legal guidelines defending worker depart associated to the care of relations and medical circumstances.

Meeting Invoice 1949, a state legislation that went into impact Jan. 1, makes it unlawful for an employer to refuse to grant a request by an eligible worker to take as much as 5 days of bereavement depart upon the dying of sure relations or retaliate in opposition to a employee for exercising these rights.

The laws expanded the California Household Rights Act, a legislation that ensures eligible employees as much as 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected depart for household care and medical depart.

Brock was eligible for such job-protected depart, based on the lawsuit, as a result of he was an Amazon worker for greater than a 12 months and labored at the least 1,250 hours within the 12 months earlier than the depart.

Amazon disputes that Brock was terminated for requesting bereavement depart.

Brock was terminated on account of an investigation that discovered he had threatened a co-worker in violation of Amazon’s office conduct coverage, firm spokesperson Alisa Carroll stated.

“Whereas we’re very sorry for the lack of Mr. Brock’s dad and mom, that’s unrelated to why he’s not working at Amazon,” Carroll stated in an electronic mail.

Carroll stated the corporate at instances asks staff for documentation of a member of the family’s passing when bereavement depart is requested. After he offered documentation, Brock’s bereavement depart was accepted and paid, she stated.

Ronald Zambrano of West Coast Trial Attorneys, who’s representing Brock, stated Amazon is utilizing the argument Brock had at work “as a pretext to sanitize the termination.”

Zambrano confirmed the corporate paid out seven days of depart in Brock’s ultimate paycheck, however stated that doesn’t absolve the corporate of legal responsibility.

Brock, 53, started working the evening shift on the success middle in November 2021 as a “picker,” to type, scan and put together packages for supply.

Brock’s mom died Jan. 21 at age 85. On Jan. 22 he used Amazon’s AtoZ app to request 4 days off, the grievance stated. His father died Jan. 27 at age 87, and on Jan. 29, Brock requested a further three days off, the swimsuit stated.

In an interview, Brock stated he had been attempting to unfold out his private time without work to go to his dad and mom within the hospital since round mid-December.

His household had realized medical doctors wouldn’t have the ability to function on his father’s coronary heart valve. The information appeared to worsen his mom’s preexisting well being issues. Brock’s mom was admitted to the hospital the week after they celebrated her birthday Dec. 13, Brock stated.

However Brock stated he felt as if his supervisors had been attempting to make it troublesome for him to take time without work. Brock stated he repeatedly requested for what the corporate phrases “voluntary” unpaid time without work, which Amazon typically gives to staff to cut back overstaffing.

“It simply appeared prefer it was a sport with them. Different individuals got time without work, however not me,” he stated.

Brock stated he was underneath stress and stretched skinny at work when he had an argument with a supervisor in early January, and he was requested to remain dwelling from work for a number of days. When he went again to work, he seemed to be in good standing, Brock stated.

Brock stated that when he didn’t present as much as work Jan. 29, his worker profile flagged he had used extra unpaid time without work than he was permitted to take. Brock stated he went in to work to point out the human sources division his dad and mom’ obituary. There, Brock stated he was offered an electronic mail deal with to ship the obituary to.

Quickly after he offered the obituary, he obtained a cellphone name from a human sources consultant who informed him the choice had been reversed, and his second bereavement request had been accepted, Brock stated. However on Feb. 3, he obtained an electronic mail giving discover of his termination. The discover, reviewed by The Occasions, didn’t specify a cause for Brock’s termination.

Zambrano of West Coast Trial Lawyerscalled the case “heartbreaking” and stated his shopper was simply the “newest of many victims” of Amazon’s human sources practices.

The corporate has lengthy been underneath scrutiny for harsh, algorithm-led work quotas, excessive damage charges and retaliatory firings — which California lawmakers aimed to crack down on in 2021 laws, AB 701.

The pandemic uncovered how the corporate’s metric-reliant worker apps resulted in erratic notifications, incorrectly revoked or delayed advantages, and haphazard terminations.

Amazon and Entire Meals warehouse employees obtained COVID publicity notifications, The Occasions present in 2020, by a patchy automated textual content and robocall system that issued notifications out of order or seemingly at random, alerting some employees however not others.

A person at an Irvine success middle died two weeks after being referred to as again to work throughout Amazon’s coronavirus hiring spree, The Occasions reported in 2020. Then, Amazon human sources representatives repeatedly referred to as to ask the place he was, even after the person’s household defined that he had died.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and financial aid for common, consequential and particular damages within the type of earnings losses, bodily illness, emotional misery and future medical bills. The grievance additionally seeks punitive damages for the corporate’s “aware disregard of plaintiff’s rights.”

Brock, who lives in north Bakersfield, is the youngest of 5; he and his two brothers and two sisters had been coordinating hospital, and later, hospice care for his or her dad and mom, in addition to the sale of their dad and mom’ cellular dwelling at Kern Canyon Estates in east Bakersfield.

Brock stated he had been serving to transfer out his dad and mom belongings on the times for which he had requested bereavement depart.

A memorial service on the church Brock’s dad and mom attended is scheduled for Saturday, which might have been their sixty fifth marriage ceremony anniversary.