(Image source from: fbadigest.com)
A warehouse worker in Amazon.com was tested COVID-19 positive in March. She was negligent and this infected several other household members. Unfortunately, the virus spread and for the same reasons her cousin died on April 17.
For fostering the spread of coronavirus and ‘keepingmum’ to unsafe working conditions, Amazon.com has been sued.
On Wednesday, in the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, a complaint was filed by three employees of the JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island, and by family members.
Prioritizing productivity over safety, JFK8 has over 5000 employees and Amazon made it a "place of danger" by being a hindrance in all the efforts that are put in to stop the coronavirus from spreading, says the lawsuit.
For now, Amazon hasn’t said anything about the lawsuit, however they mentioned ofalways following guidance from health authorities and its workplace safety experts since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Further the lawsuit said,“Amazon forces employees to work at "dizzying speeds, even if doing so prevents them from socially distancing, washing their hands, and sanitizing their work spaces."
While the coronavirus lockdown didn’t give people the convenience to move about and shop, they relied on online shopping and the Seattle-based company benefited from this the most.
Besides, many other issues came up. After unions elected officials, some of them pinpointed at how Amazon treats its workers and many of them were fired because of some critical conditions in the warehouse.
In response to this allegation, last week, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said that Amazon has not fired people for such criticism.
In total, Amazon spent more than $800 million on coronavirus safety in this year's first half, including cleaning, temperature checks and face masks. According to an employee’s unofficial tally, At least 800 workers in U.S. distribution centers have tested positive for Coronavirus.
In 2019, 798,000 fulland part-time employees were with Amazon.
Now, the lawsuit warns Amazon to comply with worker safety and public nuisance laws, and 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.
By Neha Makhija
