By Hadassa Kalatizadeh
Amazon is suing Attorney General Letitia James in a bid to block New York State’s threats to take legal action against the ecommerce giant for its handling of the pandemic in its city warehouses.
When Covid-19 first struck in March, the shutdown led consumers to turn to the online retailer more than ever before. Soon, however, the company was being criticized for its response to the pandemic. Employee Christian Smalls initiated protests complaining about conditions at the company’s Staten Island warehouse, and was fired. In April, the NY attorney general’s office and city inspectors vowed to probe the company’s handlings and whether it met state whistle-blower requirements.
In the preemptive complaint filed on Friday, Amazon claims it acted correctly, and did ensure the safety of its employees and passed city inspections. It also maintains that James overstepped her authority. James is “demanding relief that is not appropriate or warranted and is threatening to publicly sue if Amazon does not submit to the [attorney general’s] unreasonable terms,” according to the lawsuit. “The threats and unwarranted demands are not tethered to the facts or the law, and thus Amazon must now seek relief in this court.”
As reported by Crain’s NY, the AG’s office sent Amazon a list of changes it would need to implement in order to avoid legal action, as per the complaint. The list of requirements includes: Amazon’s surrender of profits, subsidize bus service for employees and lower performance expectations for warehouse workers. Amazon further claims it already adopted safety measures including hiring experts, adding hand-sanitizer stations and putting up signs instructing workers to stay at least 6-feet apart from one other.
Amazon’s suit, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, also claims that Smalls was fired for breaking the company’s paid quarantine. Smalls called the claim “ridiculous”. In November, he filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon, alleging the company violated federal civil rights law by firing him and for putting employee lives in danger during the novel Coronavirus outbreak.
On Friday, James responded to Amazon’s suit saying that her office is continuing to review all legal options. “This action by Amazon is nothing more than a sad attempt to distract from the facts and shirk accountability for its failures to protect hardworking employees from a deadly virus,’ James said in a statement. “Let me be clear: We will not be intimidated by anyone, especially corporate bullies that put profits over the health and safety of working people.”