5 Officers Win Jobs Back + Backpay After Wrongful Termination
One of the hard rules in the security industry is attendance. Companies want officers to show up exactly on time & may penalize officers for being a few minutes late. [These same companies may ask officers to stay late, sometimes hours past their shift, but that’s another story.]
Earlier this summer, 5 security officers were fired for issues surrounding attendance—both tardiness and call-outs. In each case, folks had good reason to be late or to miss work (a newborn baby, a sick mother, an illness), but the workers were penalized anyway.
In each case, the timing was odd. The officers were issued warnings only to be fired a few days later. When they raised the issue with our union’s Member Resource Center, the MRC discovered that the companies had failed to follow the rules of progressive discipline as outlined in our CBA.
If a final written warning and a termination are given at the same time, this counts as double jeopardy. Our union was able to hold the companies accountable to the CBA, and each worker got their job back, plus backpay for the time that they were out of work.
Two officers working at King County Metro were impacted, including Kyle Verzani, a shop steward with 18 years seniority. Verzani said he was hurrying to replace his income—until he worked with our union to get his job back, including his seniority and benefits.
“If you find yourself being mistreated, talk to our union and see what can be done about it,” Verzani said.
Two officers working at Amazon were impacted. After Iqra Mohamed arrived to work a few minutes late, she was asked to sign papwerwork, but not given time to read what she was signing. The company later fired her based on these documents.
After working with our union to hold the company accountable, Mohamed was reinstated with 100% backpay.
“If I didn’t have a union job, there’s no way I would’ve gotten my job back,” she said.
Union members can speak to a union rep before signing disciplinary documents. Learn more about Weingarten Rights: