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A fired Amazon worker has filed a class action lawsuit against the tech giant, alleging thousands of minority lineworkers have been put at risk and faced uneven protections against COVID-19 compared to to white managers.
The lawsuit accusing the company of racial prejudice was filed Thursday by Christian Smalls, who is black, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York City on behalf of a slew of black and Hispanic workers at the facilities of the business in Staten Island and across the country.
The lawsuit is the latest attack on Amazon, which saw the pandemic boom in business and owner Jeff Bezos only got richer even though workers felt in danger.
In October, Amazon confirmed that nearly 20,000 of its U.S. workers had tested positive or were presumed positive for COVID-19.
In the complaint, Smalls, who started working for Amazon in 2015, says he confronted his supervisors after a friend at the establishment tested positive for the virus. But, they refused to issue a quarantine order for those who came in contact with the infected employee.
Facility officials also reportedly ignored guidelines from state and federal public health officials, failed to provide workers with protective gear, and failed to establish social distancing guidelines in response. to Small’s flag of insufficient security measures in place, according to CNN.
Christian Smalls, a fired Amazon worker, filed a class action lawsuit against the company on Thursday, alleging that thousands of minority workers have been put at risk during the pandemic. He was fired in March after attending a protest denouncing poor security conditions outside his facility while in quarantine.
Amazon reportedly failed to provide workers with PPE, set social distancing guidelines, and told workers exposed to COVID to quarantine them, according to the complaint. Protesters pictured outside Staten Island Amazon facility speak out above unsafe working conditions on March 30
Smalls filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of all Amazon employees who were unprotected during the pandemic
In a press conference on Thursday via Zoom Smalls, said “ white Amazon officials were quarantined, one by one, ” while line workers were told officials were just going on vacation .
Smalls was fired during the pandemic after staging a protest outside the JFK8 distribution center on Staten Island to highlight unsafe working conditions amid the pandemic.
Amazon tells DailyMail.com that they have terminated Smalls on the grounds that it is endangering others by violating its paid quarantine to join this protest, even after being exposed to a confirmed case of the virus.
“We fired Mr. Smalls for endangering the health and safety of others and for violating his terms of employment,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
‘Sir. Smalls has received several warnings for violating social distancing guidelines. It was also discovered that he had close contact with an associate diagnosed with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and was asked to stay at home with pay for 14 days. Despite this instruction to stay home with pay, he did come, putting the teams even more at risk.
Smalls alleged that Amazon violated federal civil rights by terminating his employment and endangering minority Amazon workers during the pandemic.
The lawsuit calls for compensation for the little ones and improved safeguards for Amazon workers handling packages at company facilities as the coronavirus pandemic only worsens.
Amazon spokeswoman Lisa Levandowski told DailyMail.com the company is dedicated to “ diversity and inclusion, ” but did not comment directly on the costume.
Amazon spokeswoman Lisa Levandowski told DailyMail.com the company is dedicated to “ diversity and inclusion, ” but did not comment directly on the costume. CEO Jeff Bezos above
Smalls has repeatedly denounced Amazon following his dismissal, saying the company had failed to ensure there were coronavirus safeguards for all employees.
Smalls says coronavirus safety measures were not added until after his dismissal.
Amazon revealed in October that 19,816 employees had COVID-19 between March 1 and September 19, which represents about 1.44% of the 1,372,000 frontline workers employed by Amazon during that time, according to the Washington Post.
In an October 21 update to Amazon’s website, the company announced enhanced security measures to keep employees safe, including improved cleaning, social distancing measures, the use of disinfectant spray, distribution of personal protective equipment and temperature controls. Those who catch COVID-19 will receive up to two weeks of paid leave, according to the update.
Nurses, other union workers and activists gather with Amazon workers for a May 1-related protest outside an Amazon distribution warehouse in Staten Island, New York, on May 1
Smalls said Thursday that “ white managers are being quarantined, one by one, ” while line workers were told managers are just going on vacation. View of a May 1 protest decrying poor working conditions at the Staten Island Amazon facility above
Protests by Amazon employees have taken place across the country to denounce working conditions during the tense first days of the pandemic. In March, Amazon workers in Spain and Italy joined the United States and across Europe to sign a petition asking Amazon to adopt stricter security guidelines. View of an Amazon installation in Frankenthal, Germany above on October 13
This is not the first attack on the delivery giant.
Protests by Amazon employees have taken place across the country to denounce working conditions during the tense first days of the pandemic.
In March, Amazon workers in Spain and Italy joined the United States and across Europe to sign a petition asking Amazon to adopt stricter security guidelines.
In April, New York Attorney General Letitia James opened an investigation, in which Smalls cooperated.
Last week, a federal judge dismissed a case alleging unsafe working conditions at the Staten Island Amazon facilities, saying courts had no room to dictate workplace safety requirements in the pandemic.
Michael Sussman, one of Smalls’ attorneys representing him in litigation, said Thursday’s trial was different because it alleges racial discrimination, not employment law.
“ We suggest that Amazon’s cavalier attitude was due to the fact that it was black and brown people who were primarily affected at this facility, ” said CJ Hoffler, another lawyer for Smalls on representative in a dispute.
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