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Amazon Hit With Lawsuit Over Coronavirus Risk To Employees


Last week, Amazon was hit with a lawsuit in regard to claims that the company had not taken adequate steps to protect its employees from the coronavirus.

In the lawsuit, filed by four warehouse workers, allegations are made that the company failed to follow public health guidelines and put its workers in a position to contract the coronavirus by setting “oppressive and dangerous” quotas and discipline policies.  Interesting note though, the lawsuit does not seek a monetary award but rather an injunction that Amazon adhere to public safety guidelines.  (In broad terms, an injunction is a court order compelling a party to do or not do a specific thing.  In this case, the injunction, should it be granted, would likely compel Amazon to adhere to public safety requirements going forward.)  This is different from other coronavirus related lawsuits filed against employers of late which have primarily sought a monetary award.  The fact that this lawsuit against Amazon “only” seeks an injunction is not necessarily indicative of how it might play out, however.

This lawsuit comes on the heels of recent strikes, sick outs, protests, and other related measures taken by employees and worker advocacy groups that have sought to call attention to the plight facing many workers that run a high risk of being exposed to the coronavirus in the workplace.  While I think there is good money on similar cases being filed against employers in the coming weeks, I would be interested to see whether those potentially incoming lawsuits would also include requests for injunctive relief.


For additional information as to the lawsuit:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-03/amazon-warehouse-employees-sue-over-virus-brought-home-from-work?sref=p6AmiyaF

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