New York sues Amazon for failure to provide safety to employees during pandemic

New York state Attorney General Letitia James has sued e-commerce giant Amazon for its failure in protecting its warehouse workers from risks during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Amazon was in the process to file its own legal action against Letitia, the e-commerce giant has lost the battle. 

This lawsuit has its origins in an investigation, which began in March 2020. It was started on account of complaints made by Amazon employers over inadequate safety measures in the its facilities. 

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The company has argued that it invested billions in virus mitigation efforts.

Amazon saw an increase in its sales as the COVID-19 pandemic forced people from all around the world to stay home. 

“Since the outbreak of the pandemic, it is clear that Amazon has valued profit over people and has failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers,” said the Attorney General. 

“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 a statement.

Defending themselves, Amazon spokeswoman 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.” 

The lawsuit by James asks that Amazon “take all affirmative steps” to protect workers from COVID-19 risks and to award payback and damages to fired employee Christian Smalls and emotional distress damages for employee Derrick Palmer, who complained about working conditions.