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| Amazon faces new pressure on protection from the Corona virus |
New York Attorney General Letitia James indicated that Amazon is facing a new problem, which is the inability to protect workers in its warehouses from the new Corona virus.
After more than a year of labor protests and inquiries from lawmakers, James is now seeking an injunction to force Amazon to appoint a controller to oversee health and safety at its warehouses.
As part of the same proposal, James called for the company to reinstate theater worker Christian Smalls, who led a public protest against Amazon last year, accusing the company of failing to prevent employees from contracting viruses at work.
According to James, Amazon has restored a number of health and safety measures in the warehouse, which are JFK8. This warehouse of nearly 5,000 employees has always been a place of exchange between Amazon and its employees.
James said in a statement that the company has raised billions of dollars during the pandemic. But it still ignores workers' health and concerns. The company must ensure that it creates a safe, transparent and respectful work environment for hardworking employees and not one that exposes them to greater risks.
In February of that year, Amazon filed a preemptive lawsuit against the New York attorney general alleging that the company lacked the legal authority to seek legal reforms for the company to deal with the situation in the United States.
Four days later, James' office filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing Amazon of failing to protect warehouse workers in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic and retaliating against employees who raised concerns about their security measures.
Workers at Amazon warehouse JKF8 said in March 2020 that they did not have sufficient protective equipment and colleagues had not been told they had tested positive for the coronavirus.
After workers protested publicly, the company fired several workers, including Smalls, who protested the conditions.
Amazon said at the time that Smalls and other employees had not been fired over the protest. Because he broke the rules of social distancing.
James asked the National Labor Relations Commission to conduct an investigation and said Smalls' dismissal was shameful.
Amazon faces pressure from the New York attorney general
In the latest lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court, James said Amazon unlawfully fired employees who raised concerns about the company's compliance with these health and safety decisions, including Christian Smalls.
James is also seeking an injunction to temporarily take Smalls' stand before trial. The lawsuit alleges Smalls' termination was a threat to other employees who might be afraid to ask more questions.
James also claimed that Amazon's failure to implement proper cleaning procedures was in violation of state law. He also said a contact tracing program had failed to identify workers who had been in contact with others who tested positive for the virus.
The attorney general asked the court to order Amazon to change the way it monitors employee productivity and puts in place appropriate disinfection protocols when infected workers are in the factory.
The attorney general's office also hopes that the company will develop better protocols for tracking people infected with the coronavirus. The lawsuit also hopes that court-appointed monitors will monitor these changes.
“We have incurred more than $15 billion in security measures to support customers and employees,” Amazon said. “It is disappointing that the attorney general is trying to politicize this pandemic."