Has Amazon hid COVID cases and put your health at risk as an employee?
In an effort to avoid more negative publicity, Amazon came to an Agreement with the Attorney General. Amazon agreed to notify warehouse workers within one day of new Covid cases, as well as provide the exact number of cases in their workplace, California State Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. Amazon employs tens of thousands of warehouse workers in the state, he added.
The settlement comes after California in January enacted stricter Covid workplace regulations as part of Assembly Bill 685, or the “right-to-know” law. The regulations require businesses to report Covid cases to workers within one business day, among other stipulations.
What is Assembly Bill 685?
This bill would authorize the division, when, in its opinion, a place of employment, operation, or process, or any part thereof, exposes workers to the risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19), so as to constitute an imminent hazard to employees, to prohibit the performance of that operation or process, or entry into that place of employment.
The bill would require the division to provide a notice thereof to the employer, to be posted in a conspicuous place at the place of employment. The bill would require such a prohibition to be limited to the immediate area in which the imminent hazard exists, as specified. The bill would require such a prohibition to be issued in a manner so as not to materially interrupt the performance of critical governmental functions essential to ensuring public health and safety functions or the delivery of electrical power or water. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
“Amazon settles with California over claims it concealed Covid-19 cases from warehouse workers”
As part of the agreement, which is still awaiting court approval, Amazon will step up its Covid safety measures, including notifying workers within one day of new Covid cases.
Additionally, Amazon must notify local health officials within 48 hours and pay $500,000 towards additional enforcement of California consumer protection laws.
The company has agreed to notify warehouse workers within one day of new Covid cases, as well as provide the exact number of cases in their workplace, California State Attorney General.
While the Amazon spokesperson, Barbara Agrait states that “there’s no change to, nor allegations of any problems with, the Amazon COVID protocol related to notifying employees who may have been exposed to COVID.” The Attorney General, Robert Bonta has a different view on how the company notified the employees by stating that Amazon “inadequately notified the warehouse workers and local health agencies of COVID case numbers” thus “often leaving them in the dark and unable to effectively track the spread of the virus.”
In one of their warehouses Amazon had failed to notify the employees who had come in contact with positive COVID cases. The company even said that they believed their COVID safety protocols were “more than adequate.”
Last year, then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra opened a probe into Amazon’s treatment of warehouse workers during the pandemic. California’s division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration also fined Amazon last October for coronavirus safety violations at two warehouses in the state. At one site, Amazon didn’t notify contracted delivery drivers of confirmed cases, the citation said. Amazon said that at the time, they had believed their COVID safety measures were “more than adequate.”
If you feel you’re unable to voice your concerns about your working conditions at Amazon or about the Amazon COVID protocol, contact us for further assistance or email CJR@AmazonEmploymentLaw.com.
Our Amazon Employment Law Division can assist you in three ways:
(1) Do It Yourself: Knowledge & Forms;
(2) Done With You: Knowledge, Forms and Attorney Help Editing the Documents; and
(3) Done For You: We meet with you and draft the documents for you. We may also, in some cases, offer to fully represent the client.
Model documents so you can help yourself with Amazon employment issues.
$47.00
You edit the model documents to fit your situation and then we work with you to make them as powerful as possible.
$197.00
You meet online with one of our lawyers who then drafts an appropriate communication for you to use to try and resolve your employment issues with Amazon.
$497.00
Rosenbaum, Famularo & Segall, P.C.
Telephone: 212-256-1109
Email: CJ@AmazonSellersLawyer.com
Address: 138 East Park Ave. Long Beach, NY 11561