New York State Sues Amazon Over Worker Treatment During Covid-19 Pandemic -- 2nd Update
February 17 2021 - 12:50AM
Dow Jones News
By Sebastian Herrera
New York's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against
Amazon.com Inc. that accuses the online retailer of not doing
enough to protect workers in the state from the coronavirus.
Last week, Amazon sued New York's attorney general to prevent
the state from taking legal action against the company over its
handling of worker safety during the pandemic and the firing of one
of its warehouse workers last year.
"Throughout the historic pandemic, Amazon has repeatedly and
persistently failed to comply with its obligation to institute
reasonable and adequate measures to protect its workers from the
spread of the virus in its New York City facilities," New York
state Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a complaint filed on
Tuesday in the state Supreme Court.
Amazon, a company spokeswoman said, doesn't "believe the
Attorney General's filing presents an accurate picture of Amazon's
industry-leading response to the pandemic."
Ms. James said in the complaint that Amazon failed to comply
with state cleaning and disinfection requirements at its
facilities. The company also didn't adequately notify employees of
infected co-workers, according to the complaint.
"Amazon's response to the pandemic continues to be deficient,"
the lawsuit says, accusing the company of not closing facilities
for cleaning even when some workers were diagnosed with Covid-19.
It also faulted the company for continuing its practice of tracking
workers and disciplining them based on productivity rates.
Amazon's business has enjoyed a big boost during the pandemic as
people sheltering at home flocked to its online shop for essential
goods and other items. The company posted this month record
quarterly sales topping $125.5 billion.
"Amazon's extreme profits and exponential growth rate came at
the expense of the lives, health, and safety of its frontline
workers," Ms. James said in the filing.
The Amazon spokeswoman said the company cares "deeply about the
health and safety of our employees, as demonstrated in our filing
last week." In its complaint, Amazon listed several measures it
took for worker safety during the pandemic--including regularly
testing employees for the coronavirus, and implementing temperature
checks and providing protective equipment. The company has said it
spent roughly $11.5 billion last year on Covid-19-related
costs.
The New York Attorney General began an investigation into
Amazon's labor practices last year following the firing of the
worker, Christian Smalls. He was among a group of employees who
staged a walkout at the company's Staten Island facility in March
to help draw attention to requests for better pay and added
protections against the risks they faced working during the
pandemic. The protest was one of several by workers around the
country who said Amazon didn't implement enough safety measures to
guard against Covid-19.
Amazon has said it dismissed Mr. Smalls because he violated
social-distancing guidelines, including ignoring orders to stay
home for two weeks after coming in contact with a co-worker who had
a confirmed case of Covid-19. Mr. Smalls is one of several Amazon
workers who in the past year have claimed wrongful termination by
the company for speaking out.
In its complaint last week, Amazon argued that New York lacked
the legal authority to regulate the company's warehouse activities,
saying that those operations are governed by federal law and
regulators such as the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, a federal agency that oversees workplace safety.
Amazon said Ms. James had threatened to sue the company if it
didn't agree to demands that included reducing its production and
performance requirements and paying "large sums" to Mr. Smalls.
The case in New York adds to legal and labor challenges Amazon
faces. A high-profile union vote is under way at one of its
warehouses in Alabama, where potentially thousands of workers began
to vote by mail last week. California is looking into how the
company treats sellers in its online marketplace, and in
Connecticut authorities are investigating how Amazon sells and
distributes digital books.
Write to Sebastian Herrera at Sebastian.Herrera@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 17, 2021 00:35 ET (05:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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