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State AG Sues Amazon Over Alleged Unsafe Working Conditions At NYC Sites During Pandemic
By
Sophia Chang
Published Feb 17, 2021
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Make the Road NY
By
Sophia Chang
Published Feb 17, 2021
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State Attorney General Letitia James is suing Amazon over allegations the company failed to provide adequate safety measures for its New York City employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and retaliated against whistleblowers who complained, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
James opened an investigation into Amazon in March 2020 after receiving complaints about working conditions at two facilities -- JFK8, a fulfillment center on Staten Island, and DBK1, a distribution center in Queens. As the pandemic was spreading through New York City last year, Amazon employees at JFK8 reported a case of a coworker testing positive for COVID-19 in March, but the facility was not shut down afterwards for cleaning. Ultimately, at least 250 employees at the JFK8 Staten Island center tested positive or were diagnosed with COVID-19, with more than 90 of those employees having been at the facility within seven days of alerting the company of their diagnoses, the lawsuit said. Yet Amazon did not close the facility after notification about the vast majority of the cases, James said.
Management assistant Christian Smalls talked to reporters last spring during a walkout at JFK8, saying “management has been brushing it under the rug… if you ask how many cases they have, they'll never say." Smalls added. He was fired after the walkout, which Amazon claimed was because he broke the company's paid quarantine policy, Crain’s New York Business reported. Smalls subsequently filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the company of retaliatory termination based on what he called a "ridiculous" claim, as well as endangering the lives of Amazon workers.
Last week, Amazon preemptively sought to block the attorney general’s lawsuit with its own lawsuit against James, saying that her legal action was based on "threats and unwarranted demands” that “are not tethered to the facts or the law,” Crain’s reported. Before filing her lawsuit, James had sent Amazon a number of demands for policy changes that Amazon could make to avoid legal action, including lowering its stringent worker productivity rules, but Amazon countered that its safety measures “far exceed what is required under the law,” and that the federal government, not the state, was the appropriate oversight entity for workplace safety.
In a statement Wednesday, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said "We care deeply about the health and safety of our employees, as demonstrated in our filing last week, and we don’t believe the Attorney General’s filing presents an accurate picture of Amazon’s industry-leading response to the pandemic.”
“While Amazon and its CEO made billions during this crisis, hardworking employees were forced to endure unsafe conditions and were retaliated against for rightfully voicing these concerns,” James said in her announcement. “Since the pandemic began, it is clear that Amazon has valued profit over people and has failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers. The workers who have powered this country and kept it going during the pandemic are the very workers who continue to be treated the worst. As we seek to hold Amazon accountable for its actions, my office remains dedicated to protecting New York workers from exploitation and unfair treatment in all forms.”
Tagged
COVID-19
coronavirus
amazon
Attorney General Letitia James
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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