Amazon.com Inc was prosecuted for allegedly promoting the spread of the coronavirus.
Amazon.com Inc was prosecuted for allegedly promoting the spread of the coronavirus by imposing unsafe working conditions, forcing at least one employee to contract COVID-19, take him home, and see his cousin die.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, by three employees of the JFK8 treatment center on Staten Island and by their family members.
An employee, Barbara Chandler, said that she had tested positive for COVID-19 in March and later saw several members of the household fall ill, including a cousin who died on April 7.
The lawsuit said that Amazon had made JFK8, which employs approximately 5,000 people, a “place of danger” by hampering efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus, thereby increasing productivity at the expense of security.
He said Amazon forces employees to work at “breakneck speeds, even if it prevents them from socializing, washing their hands and disinfecting their work spaces.”
Amazon did not comment on the lawsuit, but said it had always followed the advice of health authorities and its occupational safety experts since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Seattle-based company took advantage of the pandemic, which forced many consumers unable to go to physical stores to buy more online.
Unions, elected officials, and some employees have criticized Amazon’s treatment of workers, including the dismissal of some critics of warehouse conditions.
CEO Jeff Bezos said last week that Amazon hadn’t fired people for such criticism.
Amazon is spending more than $ 800 million on coronavirus security in the first half of this year, including cleaning, temperature controls, and face masks.
At least 800 workers in US distribution centers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an unofficial employee count.
Amazon ended 2019 with 798,000 full-time and part-time employees.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction requiring Amazon to comply with worker safety and public nuisance laws, and does not punish employees who develop COVID-19 symptoms or are quarantined.
The case is Palmer et al v. Amazon.com Inc., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, no. 20-02468.
