Amazon employee in Ohio calls for suspension over fears of warehouse shooting

WEST JEFFERSON, Ohio (WCMH) – A near-tragic workplace shooting at Amazon Fulfillment Building CMH5 on May 12 raised safety concerns for many employees.

A second incident involving a firearm occurred just days later right outside Amazon’s West Jefferson warehouse. The company claimed the second incident did not occur on Amazon property, but on the public street in front of it.

In this second case, a police report from West Jefferson Police said a contract worker on Amazon property retrieved a gun from his personal vehicle before an altercation with a truck driver who was unloading a load at Amazon. No shots were fired.

That wasn’t the case the first time, however. According to police, 22-year-old Ali Hamsa Yusuf entered CMH5 with a gun. More than 100 employees were inside the building when the security guard – assigned to the facility by an outside contractor – fired a shot, damaging the building. No one was injured inside the warehouse, but Yusuf later died in a shootout with Columbus police outside the facility.

In response to both incidents, numerous employees posted their concerns on their company’s MyVoice message board. One of the employees who posted about workplace safety was Breyonn Dockery, who had only worked in the building where the shooting occurred for about a month.

“I was supposed to work that day, but I was able to take the day off,” she said.

But the shooting affected everyone. She took to the message board and asked, “What are you all going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again? Because our safety is important too.”

Dockery was suspended several days after that initial post was published. She was called to Human Resources for a 20-minute meeting with a human resources representative and an employee relations representative.

During that meeting, Dockery was asked about her concerns, discussed the company’s health resources, and asked for suggestions. At one point about 15 minutes into the meeting, Dockery pulled hand soap out of her purse or pocket and said, “If that were a weapon, how would you stop me from bringing it in here?”

Immediately afterward, she suggested additional security measures to prevent someone from bringing a weapon into the building. She cited hand soap as an example of an item that can be brought to work without being checked. The building does have metal detectors, but they are stationed at the exit.

“If they are taking more measures to protect their assets than to protect their employees, then I think that speaks for itself,” she explained.

After that meeting with HR, Dockery received a call from an Amazon loss prevention investigator and another HR representative.

“I felt like I was being targeted just for raising safety concerns,” she said.

An hour after that call, Dockery was told she did not have to return to work but would still be paid her salary.

Amazon representative Steve Kelly said in a written statement: “In accordance with standard protocol and procedures, an employee was suspended with pay following an alleged altercation with a supervisor. The investigation is ongoing.”

“I’m not with Amazon anymore. No. Yes, I quit the next day,” Dockery said.

When she asked why she was suspended, she was told it was “confidential.” Dockery then posted a message on MyVoice for her colleagues to see. That message was then deleted by app administrators.

Amazon’s Kelly issued a statement about the security measures at the facility.

“The safety of our employees is always our top priority. Based on guidance from law enforcement and safety experts, we take a comprehensive approach to preventing workplace violence with a range of safety controls and regularly commit to improving safety policies and procedures at our facilities. Following the incident at our West Jefferson Sort Center, facility leaders proactively and repeatedly reached out to employees to see how they were doing, offer support, and solicit feedback.”

In addition, Kelly provided written explanations of the company’s policy regarding messages shared through MyVoice and why certain messages are deleted or hidden.

“Comments via internal communication mechanisms are offensive, vulgar or contain personal attacks,” he wrote.

According to Kelly, Amazon also had police protection stationed at the site for “several days” after the shooting.

Although Dockery no longer works at Amazon, she worries about her former colleagues who do not feel safe.

“I don’t feel like they care. I feel like they want us to believe they care. But actions speak louder than words, and I haven’t seen any actions that show they care about our safety,” she said.

Dockery has found a new job, and when asked what she thought would improve the situation at Amazon, she said, “Acknowledging, you know, that the situation happened, rather than just trying to cover it up, trying to, you know, control the narrative and have everyone acknowledge that it happened, acknowledge our feelings, and tell us what they’re going to do to prevent something like this from happening again.”

Kelly also wrote: “Employees are encouraged to bring their concerns, questions and ideas to operations managers and can freely share their personal experiences at Amazon with the media.”