According to reports, New York governor Kathy hochul announced today that the state's Human Rights Office (DHR) has filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing Amazon of discriminating against pregnant and disabled workers. Amazon is suspected of forcing pregnant and disabled employees to take unpaid leave, the indictment said.
In one case, a pregnant worker was allowed to avoid lifting a package exceeding 25 pounds; But a manager refused to comply with the rule, which meant that the worker had been carrying heavy objects. After the worker was injured, he was asked by Amazon to take "unpaid leave indefinitely".
Investigators said Amazon's actions violated the state's human rights law, which prohibits discrimination against pregnant and disabled workers in the workplace. DHR called on Amazon to pay civil fines to the state of New York, stop its discriminatory behavior, and introduce non discriminatory policies and practices, as well as other remedies.
In fact, some of Amazon's treatment of workers, including the treatment of pregnant workers, has been criticized in the past. Prior to this, Amazon has faced a lawsuit against warehouse workers, accusing Amazon of firing them for failing to meet performance standards after they became pregnant.
Last September, six U.S. senators wrote to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), urging it to investigate Amazon warehouse's "abuse of pregnant employees".
Amazon representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
