Have you been a victim of discrimination at Amazon because of your national origin?

Do you feel that Amazon has discriminated against you because of where you were born?

To help you decide whether to bring a legal claim against Amazon, here are some things to consider.

What is discrimination based on national origin?

According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which deals with discrimination in the workplace,

National origin discrimination involves treating people (applicants or employees) unfavorably because they are from a particular country or part of the world, because of ethnicity or accent, or because they appear to be of a certain ethnic background (even if they are not).
National origin discrimination also can involve treating people unfavorably because they are married to (or associated with) a person of a certain national origin.
Discrimination can occur when the victim and the person who inflicted the discrimination are the same national origin.

Laws against discrimination based on national origin

Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Both federal and state laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of national in relation to:

• hiring
• firing
• pay
• job assignments
• promotions
• layoffs
• training
• benefits
• any other term or condition of employment

What’s harassment?

It is illegal to harass someone because of their national origin.

According to the EEOC,

Harassment can include, for example, offensive or derogatory remarks about a person’s national origin, accent or ethnicity. Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The person doing the harassing might be the victim’s boss, co-worker, or subordinate or even someone from outside the company such as a vendor, client, supplier, or customer.

Disparate Impact

It’s illegal for an employer to use an employment practice that applies to everyone, regardless of their country of origin, if it has a negative impact on people of a certain national origin, or those born outside the US generally, if the requirement isn’t job-related or necessary for the operation of the business.

For example, as the EEOC explains,
An employer can only require an employee to speak fluent English if fluency in English is necessary to perform the job effectively. An “English-only rule”, which requires employees to speak only English on the job, is only allowed if it is needed to ensure the safe or efficient operation of the employer’s business and is put in place for nondiscriminatory reasons.
An employer may not base an employment decision on an employee’s foreign accent, unless the accent seriously interferes with the employee’s job performance.

Citizenship Discrimination

In many situations, it’s illegal for an employer to discriminate based on a person’s citizenship or immigration status.

As the EEOC explains,

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, based upon an individual’s citizenship or immigration status. The law prohibits employers from hiring only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents unless required to do so by law, regulation or government contract. Employers may not refuse to accept lawful documentation that establishes the employment eligibility of an employee, or demand additional documentation beyond what is legally required, when verifying employment eligibility (i.e., completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9), based on the employee’s national origin or citizenship status.

What are examples of discrimination based on national origin?

The Department of Labor provides several examples of illegal discrimination based on national origin:

• Raj, who is Arab American, is regularly teased by a coworker, Mike. Mike engages Raj in long conversations about ISIS, calls him a terrorist, and constantly jokes about getting him deported.

• Maria routinely speaks Spanish during the course of her work and sometimes during her lunch break with coworkers. Maria’s supervisor tells her that their office is an “English only” workplace and that she should refrain from speaking in Spanish during work hours.

• John works in a large office and routinely has lunch with a group of South Asian colleagues who share food and talk about their families. John applies to a new position and is not selected. When John asks Paula, who was the hiring official, what he could do to improve his chances of being selected in the future, Paula tells John that she was not comfortable selecting John because she had seen him often having lunch with the “foreign” employees and that made Paula wonder if John would “fit in” with her team.

Nolo.com provides additional examples:
• An airline won’t allow anyone who appears to be from the Middle East to work in any position that involves dealing with passengers.

• A hardware store that serves a predominantly white neighborhood refuses to promote an employee who has adopted a traditional African style of dress.

• A Chinese restaurant hires only people with Asian features and surnames to wait on customers.

• An automotive supply store disciplines Latino employees more severely than white employees for unexcused absences and tardiness.

National Origin Discrimination at Amazon

In 2021, as HRDive reported,

Five lawsuits were filed on May 19 against online retail giant Amazon alleging discrimination and retaliation by primarily white male managers in Amazon’s warehouses and corporate offices…

In one of these lawsuits, a Latinx manager claimed ‘that her White, male supervisor said, “Latins suck” and “You are a Latin woman, I need to be careful every time I talk to you.”’

Another employee sued Amazon Web Services, alleging that the company failed to comply with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which preclude employers from engaging in discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status and from retaliatory actions following a protected activity.

What can you do if you experienced national-origin discrimination at Amazon?

If you’re dealing with national origin discrimination at Amazon, or if you lost your job at Amazon because of your country of origin, call attorney Cj Rosenbaum at 212-256-1109, text 212-256-8492, or email CJ@AmazonSellersLawyer.com. You can also submit a summary of your situation online .