Former USA U19 rugby player and longtime Dallas Reds star Kelly Kolberg has taken a stand against his employer on behalf of his coworkers at Dallas Fort Worth Airport to improve working conditions and worker safety, and has lost his job in the fallout.

Kolberg, who still plays with the Reds and represented the USA at the U19 level in 2003 and 2004, worked in baggage transfer at DFW’s Terminal B, working for Envoy Airline, which is a subsidiary of American Airlines Group, and also servicing flights American Eagle, another AA company. When the COVID-19 outbreak began he alerted his supervisors to the lack of cleanliness in the employee break room—no restocking of soap, no paper towels, with the sink area never cleaned— and also pushed for more personal protective equipment (PPE) for the workers.

No action was taken, so eventually, after the local media wouldn’t take the story, Kolberg took to social media to publicize the problems.

The main issue, said Kolberg, were the break rooms and the areas where the workers have to congregate.

He posted, in part, this: "I will take you back to March 14th, The day I contacted every news outlet detailing our conditions yet no one wanted to run with it. I was disgusted with the filthy conditions the lack of PPE, the empty hand sanitizer, empty soap, empty paper towels. Fast forward 2.5 weeks and I hear of numerous infections at Envoy, all through word of mouth, not from envoy or any official outlet. Turns out the majority of cases were in the break room I tried to shed light on."

Kolberg backed up that statement with Goff Rugby Report today.

“You would look at them and you wouldn’t able to tell if even any basic cleaning had been done,” Kolberg told Goff Rugby Report. “They needed a deep cleaning and then maintenance, but they didn’t do even the basic cleaning. Our break room consisted of picnic tables, so when there are over 40 people in there, you can’t isolate yourself. It’s always been like that but with the COVID issues, they needed to do something.”

People started getting sick. According to Kolberg, more workers at Terminal B got sick than anywhere else in the airport. A coworker and friend of his, Glenmar Gabriel, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 30, the day after he died. It’s possible another worker has died from the outbreak, as well, but that’s unconfirmed; certainly there have been hospitalizations and the Transport Workers Union of America has confirmed through the Dallas NBC affiliate that at least 30 workers have tested positive.

As a result of blowing the whistle on the lack of hygiene, Kolberg was suspended from his job. He didn’t back down, and it became clear his coworkers needed him.

“I got suspended, and then my buddy died and I was like f*#k it, I am just going to keep speaking out,” said Kolberg. “Look, I don’t have anything. It’s just me and my dog. I live the broke rugby life and I love it. I have this job because of the medical and the flight benefits, but the pay is atrocious. These guys I work with have a lot more to worry about than I do, so I figured I would speak out for them.”

Kolberg documented the filth at his workplace, and posted it. Pressure on Envoy eventually forced the company to end his suspension, but they used that to their advantage.

Kolberg was called back to work, issued his security badge, and then walked into a meeting. He was given 15 minutes to find a union rep, and someone did show up, albeit someone who was new on the job. The local head of the union did not attend as the company then summarily fired Kolberg. Their official reason was bad attendance, but it has become clear that by ending the suspension first, and then firing Kolberg, the company could say it wasn’t retaliating because of the whistleblowing, but firing for another reason.

Kolberg is still fighting the company, and still waiting for the TWU to put some weight behind the despite, but said he is comfortable which his decision to speak out.

Meanwhile, Envoy and American have addressed many of the problems Kolberg outlined, cleaning up the break room, replacing the furniture with chairs so workers can isolate themselves, and making it somewhat safer to work there. So Kolberg's actions provided a benefit, and Envoy's actions showed that maybe he had a point.

But Envoy's slowness to act as this controversy built has a wider reach. Workers were getting sick, and many of these workers handle bags for airline passengers. Kolberg’s main job was to ferry bags between American Eagle short-hop flights and longer American Airlines flights. He could load and unload bags, touching all of them. 

“I might touch 20, 30 bags a load,” he said. “So this is something that affects everyone.”

A GoFundMe page designed to help Kolberg with legal fees has been set up: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kelly-kolberg-support-fund