Amazon Lawsuit to be Tried in State Court
The lawsuit against Amazon for putting profits over workers’ safety during the pandemic will occur at the state level.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James originally filed a lawsuit against Amazon because it failed to install precautions from the Covid-19 pandemic to its workers in the New York City warehouses. Furthermore, when two whistleblowers publicly reprimanded the company for its conditions, Amazon fired them. According to James, Amazon violated New York State Labor Law. The two facilities under scrutiny were the building on Staten Island and another in Queens, both sites of skyrocketing Covid-19 positive cases at the height of the pandemic.
James’s office investigated and found that Amazon violated standard disinfection, which was supposed to be heightened last year to reduce the spread of the virus. The office also found cases where the company did not properly implement contact tracing at the facilities. Amazon did nothing when it learned its employees contracted the virus and even permitted them to remain on-premises and did not shut down any parts of the plant to disinfect.
James released a statement after the judge decided that the case will be tried in state court. “As we have contended all along, Amazon has forced its employees to work in unsafe conditions throughout this pandemic, in violation of New York State labor laws. We are pleased with today’s decision to allow this case to be heard in state court, where it belongs,” James said.
The suit seeks changes within Amazon in the form of updated training and awarding monetary compensation to employee Derrick Palmer and damages and work reinstatement to fired worker Christian Smalls, the two whistleblowers. The suit also supports Amazon relinquishing its profit it gained that could not have been otherwise created if there were extra safety measures in place.
Amazon insists that the case should be tried in federal court due to whether it violated federal labor laws. Manhattan’s U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff allowed the case to be moved to the state court. Amazon originally intended the case to be tried at the federal level in the original courthouse in Brooklyn, where Amazon sued James to disentangle itself from the case.
“We look forward to making our case and continuing our work to protect workers,” James said.
During the last year, the online shopping mogul has also acquired nine new mega-warehouse sites in the city limits.
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