New York state filed a lawsuit Against Amazon on Wednesday, accusing e-commerce of discriminating against pregnant and disabled workers.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the New York State Division of Human Rights had filed the complaint.
According to the statement, the complaint alleged that Amazon’s policies required pregnant and disabled women to take unpaid leave by denying them moderate accommodation. He claimed that Amazon had allowed administrators on the site to oppose recommendations made through designated “hosting consultants. “
The complaint cited cases in which it believed Amazon had violated workers’ rights, according to the governor’s statement.
This includes a pregnant Amazon employee who, according to the complaint, asked to be exempted from lifting boxes weighing around 25 pounds, but her manager turned it down and then suffered an injury.
In the case, the complaint alleged that a disabled employee had provided documents showing that he had to stick to a certain sleep schedule, but that his Amazon manager had refused to swap shifts to adjust.
In a third case, a disabled employee declined a request to reduce his hours, according to the statement.
A spokesman for the governor told Insider that the complaint itself is confidential and will lead to an investigation, the effects of which will be made public.
It’s rarely the first time Amazon has been accused of denying housing to pregnant employees. Vice reported in July 2021 that a pregnant warehouse employee had asked for lighter tasks, but she said her request was denied. The employee also told Vice that her manager continually asked her why she took longer bathroom breaks.
According to a letter reviewed through Vice, the employee had a miscarriage and was denied leave due to health issues through Amazon.
In 2019, CNET reported that Amazon had been the subject of seven wrongful termination lawsuits over the past four years by women who said they had been fired because they were pregnant.
Amazon did not immediately respond when contacted via Insider for comment outside of general operating hours.
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