Amazon faces lawsuit from New York State over Covid-19 negligence
Amazon will have to respond to a lawsuit filed by the State of New York for failing to take proper precautions with its employees amid the pandemic. Covid-19. The information was initially published by The New York Times, and revealed that the person responsible for the action is the Attorney General of New York, Letitia James. The accusations against the company range from sanitary failures to intimidation of employees.
“The extreme profits and exponential growth rate of Amazon “These actions have cost the lives, health, and safety of its frontline workers. Amazon’s flagrant disregard for health and safety requirements has threatened serious illness and serious harm to thousands of workers at these facilities, and poses a continuing substantial and specific danger to public health,” the state attorney general argued in part of her lawsuit, which consists of 31 pages of arguments and testimony.
According to Letitia James, the process also demands a position from Amazon about alleged retaliation against employees who argued about the lack of ideal safety and hygiene procedures to prevent contagion by Covid-19. One of the employees named by her in the lawsuit was Christian Smalls, who was fired from the warehouse located in Staten Island, New York, precisely after criticizing the working conditions. “Amazon employees reasonably fear that if they make legitimate health and safety complaints about Amazon’s Covid-19 response, Amazon will also retaliate against them”.
Amazon defends itself by attacking
Amazon has not been fazed by New York State’s accusations, saying it is doing more than required to take care of its employees’ health during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company filed a 64-page lawsuit against Letitia James, arguing that she “went beyond what is required by state law.”
According to Amazon, the allegations from the employees (who numbered approximately 250, according to Letitia) are unfounded. “We do not believe the attorney general’s lawsuit presents an accurate picture of Amazon’s industry-leading response to the Covid pandemic,” a spokesperson told The New York Times.
In justifying the dismissal of Christian Smalls, Amazon's argument was that the employee had been released to comply with quarantine precisely after having had contact with another employee infected with Covid, but instead of complying with isolation, he violated company policy by participating in and leading a process outside the Staten Island facility.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. The Verge
Image: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay/CC
