Coronavirus in the United States: Amazon employees file a lawsuit against their company

Three New York employees and their relatives seized the American justice (photo of illustration). REUTERS / Pascal Rossignol

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Three employees of a large New York warehouse accuse the American e-commerce giant of neglect in the face of the pandemic.

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Amazon is under attack on several fronts. According to the three New York employees and their relatives, who filed a complaint on June 3, the company exposed its staff to the risks of contamination by Covid-19. An employee died of coronavirus. Another claims to have contracted it in the center of Staten Island, in New York, and then to have infected his cousin, who died from it.

According to the complainants, Amazon would have accepted that employees tested positive return to work, exposing them to the risk of contamination, accusations denied by the group. These employees also accuse the company of imposing too restrictive a work pace, with no possible breaks to wash their hands.

Intimidation policy

They also accuse him of not having compensated the people in quarantine who could not receive a salary. Finally, employees denounce a policy of intimidation which prevents them from going on sick leave for fear of not being paid or of being dismissed.

As sole damages, these employees claim payment of part of the compensation in the event of quarantine and the implementation of protective measures in the warehouse. For its part, Amazon claims to have spent more than $ 800 million on equipment and sanitary tests as well as exceptional allowances of two weeks' salary for employees in quarantine.

► Also read: France: Amazon summoned to appeal to protect its employees from the coronavirus

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  • United States
  • Coronavirus
  • Employment and Work
  • Social issues

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