Michael Kopp didn’t want to lose his job at the Amazon Fullfilment Center in San Bernardino, but says he reached his limit after four years of persistent bullying by co-workers started taking a physical toll.
“I just couldn’t take it anymore,” said Kopp, 29, of San Bernardino, who in the third grade was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndome, a condition characterized by difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication. “I was constantly throwing up. I was dizzy. I had diarrhea. I had sweats. My stomach had great pain. It was terrible.”
On Sept. 21, 2020, after a night in Kaiser urgent care, Kopp showed up at work with a doctor’s note authorizing him to take the day off due to work-related stress, according to a lawsuit he filed against Amazon.com Services in February 2021. He was told by his manager, an onsite nurse and a human resources manager that Amazon didn’t accept doctor’s notes, the suit alleges. Kopp was not granted the day off and told he had to work.
Kopp walked out and never returned.
“He said he was sick, needed time off, couldn’t take it anymore and repeated that he did not want to lose his job,” said attorney Raymond Babaian, who represented Kopp.
On Oct. 15, 2020, Amazon fired Kopp, citing job abandonment, according to the lawsuit.
Jury award
The case went to trial and, on Nov. 2, a jury awarded Kopp $1.2 million, concluding that Amazon intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Kopp because its human resources department failed to properly address his complaints and stop the harassment.
Jurors, however, deadlocked on Kopp’s disability harassment claim in a 7-5 split in favor of Kopp, so there will be a retrial on that claim. In state court civil trials, at least nine of 12 jurors must find in favor of a plaintiff for the plaintiff to prevail.
“The jury found that Amazon intentionally inflicted emotional distress in perpetrating and allowing the conduct to occur,” said Kopp’s lead attorney, John Barber, in an email. “Michael will now move on and try his harassment claim against Amazon.”
Attorneys Karen P. Kimmey and Chandra S. Andrade, who represented Amazon.com Services during the two-week trial, did not respond to telephone calls and emails seeking comment. Officials at Amazon also did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Exemplary employee
Kopp, who began working at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in October 2015 as a temporary employee and was granted full-time employment in March 2016, was an exemplary employee who in 2019 was recognized as the “#3 associate in terms of productivity for the entire facility,” according to the lawsuit.
But because of his Asperger’s syndrome, dyslexia and difficulty reading, the lawsuit claims, Kopp became a target of “severe abuse” by his co-workers, who made venomous comments to him such as: “You are a waste of life!”, “Why do they (Amazon) hire autistic people?”, “Nobody likes you!”, “ “F—— retard!”, “You should kill yourself!” and “You will never be anything.”
One of Kopp’s main tormentors hurled a box at Kopp as they were loading a truck in 2017. The box, which weigh about 4 pounds, struck him in the head, according to the lawsuit. “My hands went numb from getting hit in the head so hard,” Kopp said in a telephone interview.
Kopp complained to his manager, but didn’t get much support. “He said, ‘please don’t go to HR and tell … because he really needs this job,” Kopp said.
The bullying and intimidation continued despite Kopp’s repeated complaints to managers. Kopp believed his co-workers collaborated in an ongoing pattern and practice of harassment and bullying due to his disabilities.
“It became apparent that (Kopp) was the joke and/or punching bag of the warehouse, which seemed to operate much like a high school bullying the disabled kid,” the suit alleges.
One employee told Kopp she was fired from her previous job because she stabbed a co-worker, leaving Kopp feeling “very threatened,” according to the lawsuit.
Amazon workplace issues
Amazon has come under fire in recent years from current and former employees who allege harsh working conditions, safety issues and unfair treatment of employees.
In March, an Amazon worker at a Bakersfield warehouse filed a lawsuit in Kern County Superior Court alleging the company fired him for seeking time off to grieve his parents’ deaths.
The Center for Investigative Reporting has published a series of stories in the past five years on workplace issues and controversies at Amazon, including injuries.
Moving on
Kopp says he felt defeated when he left Amazon, and has struggled in the years since trying to stay grounded and find stable employment again.
“It made me feel terrible,” he said. “I was hoping to grow in the company. But once I left my job I wasn’t able to make car payments. I wasn’t able to make car insurance payments. I lost my health insurance. I couldn’t go to the grocery store to get food. I constantly have to rely on my great-grandmother.”
