New York, Feb 12 (EFE) .- The e-commerce giant Amazon filed a lawsuit on Friday against the attorney general of New York, Letitia James, with a view to avoiding possible legal action on its security protocols due to covid-19 and following the firing of an employee who went on strike last spring.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court for the Eastern District of New York, Amazon accused James of exceeding its limits by ordering an investigation, which found that the company founded by Jeff Bezos violated security requirements, and by threatening actions legal, according to local media, including CNBC.
In the early days of the pandemic, Amazon faced complaints from activists when its workers, including Chris Smalls, protested the conditions at its Staten Island, New York warehouse, prompting an investigation by the attorney general.
Smalls, an administrative assistant, said he was fired after organizing the strike last March, when the pandemic began to spread among warehouse personnel.
For its part, the company says it fired him for repeatedly violating social distancing requirements and a paid quarantine license, according to the lawsuit.
Last November, Smalls filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of black and Hispanic workers that he said Amazon put at risk.
Amazon further claims that its coronavirus safety practices “far exceeded” what the state required at the time, and that an unannounced inspection on March 30, the day of the strike, proved this, the New York Post reports. .
Prosecutor James said in a statement that the lawsuit “is nothing more than a sad attempt by Amazon to distract from the facts and evade responsibility for its failure to protect workers from a deadly virus.”
He also indicated that, throughout this pandemic, Amazon employees have been forced to work in unsafe conditions, “while the company and its CEO made billions off their backs.”
“No one will intimidate us, especially corporate bullies who put profit before the health and safety of workers,” he warned.
“We continue in our efforts to protect workers from exploitation and will continue to review all of our legal options,” he said. EFE
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