Amazon sued for denying pregnant workers bathroom breaks and chairs
Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks
Four former Amazon warehouse employees have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging the company discriminated against them by denying basic pregnancy accommodations like bathroom breaks, sitting, and extra breaks, and then firing them when they took medically necessary time off. The suit, filed in New York, invokes the 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and follows an EEOC finding of reasonable cause against Amazon. Amazon disputes the claims, saying it approves over 99.9% of accommodation requests.
All four asked Amazon for basic pregnancy-related accommodations so they could keep doing their jobs. Amazon denied them basic modifications the law recognizes pregnant workers regularly need, even in uncomplicated pregnancies: Bathroom breaks. An extra 15-minute break. Sitting instead of standing.
- Aurornis
I skimmed the lawsuit. As far as I can tell, the complaint is about getting 4 x 15 minute extra breaks during the day and lighter work. Amazon did grant them, but the complaint is that they didn't do it fast enough. There's also something of a disagreement where she expected to be paid for the extra hour of break time every day, but Amazon was counting it as unpaid. She was reassigned to lighter work at her request, but the complaint is that she still had to lift heavy things and they didn't give her a job where she could sit down.
The word "bathroom" shows up a lot but that doesn't appear core to the lawsuit. I think an editor was engineering the headline for maximum clickbait to link back to the previous Amazon bathroom break stories.
Regardless of what you think about Amazon, this reporting could use a little less clickbait and little more details from the actual lawsuit.
- stuaxo
It didn't take long for people to appear in here to say it's not too bad.
- distortionfield
This is the company that literally hired the Pinkertons and has been repeatedly fined millions for labor related violations, up to and including union busting. Consider me not even an iota of surprised.
- bastard_op
At this point is anyone surprised at what Amazon will do to the plebeian workers that fuel them?
- hereme888
Adults need permission to use a restroom?!