Peter Endig | AFP | Getty Images
The New Jersey attorney general sued Amazon on Wednesday, alleging the company has violated the rights of thousands of pregnant employees and staffers with disabilities who work in several of its facilities in the state.
The complaint, filed in Essex County Superior Court by the office of Attorney General Matthew Platkin, alleges Amazon violated state anti-discrimination law in how it treats pregnant employees and employees with disabilities when they request a work accommodation.
The state said the lawsuit follows a years-long investigation by its civil rights division into Amazon’s treatment of workers at warehouses across New Jersey.
According to the suit, the state’s investigation found that since October 2015, Amazon allegedly violated pregnant and disabled employees’ rights by placing them on unpaid leave when they request accommodations, denied them reasonable accommodations and “unreasonably” delayed its responses to workers’ requests.
It also alleged that Amazon “unlawfully” retaliates against these workers when they seek an accommodation, including by firing them. After workers are granted an accommodation, Amazon allegedly fired some employees for “failing to meet the company’s rigid productivity requirements.”
“There is no excuse for Amazon’s shameful treatment of pregnant workers and workers with disabilities,” Platkin said in a statement. “Amazon’s egregious conduct has caused enormous damage to pregnant workers and workers with disabilities in our state, and it must stop now.”
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement that accusations it doesn’t follow federal and state laws like New Jersey’s anti-discrimination law are “simply not true.”
“Ensuring the health and well-being of our employees is our top priority, and we’re committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for everyone,” Nantel said.
The company said it approves more than 99% of pregnancy accommodation requests submitted by workers. Amazon also denied placing pregnant workers automatically on leave, as well as claims that it unjustifiably rejects accommodation requests.
The complaint seeks to require that Amazon pay unspecified compensatory damages and civil fines, as well as court orders requiring the company to adjust its policies and to submit to monitoring and reporting requirements for five years, among other remedies.
One incident described in the complaint states that an unnamed pregnant employee received an accommodation that permitted her to take additional breaks and restricted her from lifting items heavier than 15 pounds.
Less than a month after the accommodation was approved, she was allegedly terminated for “not meeting packing numbers,” the lawsuit states, even though her accommodation required her pack fewer items each shift.
In another case, a pregnant employee’s accommodation request was closed due to a lack of medical paperwork when the requested documents weren’t required. While the worker tried to resubmit her request, she allegedly received three warnings for “poor productivity,” and was ultimately fired for “not making rate,” according to the complaint.
Amazon’s internal investigation of her case didn’t confirm that the employee was fired due to her pregnancy, but the company ultimately reinstated her with backpay, the lawsuit says.
“Amazon’s discriminatory practices and systemic failure to accommodate pregnant workers and workers with disabilities have the effect of pushing these employees out of Amazon’s workforce — the precise outcome the [Law Against Discrimination] was intended to prevent,” according to the lawsuit.
Amazon’s treatment of pregnant employees and others in its sprawling front-line workforce has come under scrutiny in the past.
The company, which is the nation’s second-largest private employer, has faced lawsuits from workers at its warehouses, who alleged the company failed to accommodate them once they were pregnant, then fired them for failing to meet performance standards, CNET reported.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year opened a probe into Amazon’s treatment of pregnant workers in its warehouses after six senators urged it to do so, citing a “concerning pattern of mistreatment.”
New York’s Division of Human Rights in 2022 filed a complaint against Amazon alleging it discriminates against pregnant workers and workers with disabilities at its facilities.
Amazon said it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.
