New Jersey takes on Amazon with lawsuits standing up for workers

⚖️ New Jersey sues Amazon for discriminating against pregnant and disabled warehouse workers.
🚗 Amazon also accused of denying Flex drivers wages, benefits, and legal protections.
💰 State seeks millions in damages and demands Amazon stop violating NJ workers’ rights.

TRENTON – New Jersey has filed two different lawsuits against Amazon, accusing the retail giant of both mistreating some warehouse workers as well as denying earned benefits to Flex drivers.

Amazon is valued at more than a trillion dollars and is the state’s largest private employer, with about 50,000 workers in its dozens of warehouses across New Jersey. It also employs several thousand Flex drivers.

A discrimination lawsuit was filed on behalf of pregnant and disabled warehouse workers, announced a day after a separate lawsuit that accused Amazon of intentionally misclassifying its Flex drivers as independent contractors.

Both lawsuits seek damages for the workers and the state and to prevent such behavior from continuing, moving forward.

Amazon accused of discriminating against pregnant and disabled workers

In the complaint filed on Oct. 22, Amazon is accused of a pattern of discrimination and retaliation against pregnant and disabled workers by placing them on unpaid leave for requesting accommodations to be able to do their jobs.

The company has also been accused of illegally denying or delaying reasonable accommodations and illegally firing the same workers for failing to meet the company’s rigid productivity requirements.

Amazon’s internal records show that over a recent two-year period, warehouse employees in New Jersey alone made over 27,000 requests for disability- and pregnancy-related accommodations – more than one request, per hour, of every day.

Pattern of ignoring, firing pregnant workers who ask for physical accommodation

A years-long investigation by state officials was wrapped before the lawsuit was filed, as state Attorney General Matthew Platkin called Amazon’s treatment of its staff “shameful.”

One pregnant Amazon employee asked to use a wheelchair as an workplace accommodation and was automatically put on unpaid leave while the request was pending.

Another employee whose requested disability accommodation was denied was told by Amazon that she was being “automatically placed under [a] leave of absence” because work was “unable to accommodate your restrictions.”

One worker notified Amazon that they had “trouble lifting heavy things” or “reaching for things [on] the highest shelf” because of a disability. Amazon did not offer possible modifications and fired the employee, weeks later.

According to the complaint, less than a month after Amazon approved one pregnant employee for extra breaks and restricted her from lifting items heavier than 15 pounds, she was fired for not meeting packing numbers – metrics she could not meet under the approved, temporary terms.

A different pregnant worker requested accommodation to not lift heavy items because she was “at a high risk of having a miscarriage.”

Amazon closed that request and refused to honor it because paperwork was not submitted within seven days – even though anti-discrimination law does not even allow an employer to require paperwork, under those circumstances.

Under state law, workers with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations, including job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, leaves of absence, or job reassignment.

“Put simply, Amazon has exploited pregnant workers and workers with disabilities in its New Jersey warehouses,” Platkin said in a written release. “In building a trillion-dollar business, Amazon has flagrantly violated their rights and ignored their well-being – all while it continues to profit off their labor,” he added.

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Amazon accused of misclassifying Flex drivers as independent contractors

The state has also sued Amazon and its Amazon Logistics delivery network for misclassifying Flex delivery drivers as independent contractors, dodging payment of earned overtime sick leave and job-protected family leave.

The company has also been accused of shirking its legal requirement to pay into state funds for unemployment and disability benefits.

Since at least 2017, Amazon’s Flex drivers have been required to follow strict rules on how and when to make deliveries, all while using their own vehicles and paying for their own expenses, including gas, insurance, maintenance, and tolls.

“Amazon’s misclassification of Flex drivers is illegal–plain and simple. We will not allow Amazon to expand its empire by exploiting New Jersey workers and our state’s unemployment trust funds,” state Labor Commissioner Rob Asaro-Angelo said in a written release.

A state investigation began after Flex drivers began to apply for unemployment and temporary disability benefits.

On a case-by-case basis, some were awarded benefits, even though Amazon has not contributed to the required state funds for these workers.

One Flex driver often works over 40 hours a week driving for Amazon, but never receives state-mandated overtime pay, which is rated at one-and-one-half times their regular pay.
Another driver regularly paid for work-related tolls out of pocket, effectively lowering his pay to below the minimum wage.

According to the complaint, another Flex driver injured her back while picking up a package and was unable to work for Amazon for 11 days. She lost income as she does not receive sick leave. She went back before recovering, because she could not afford such unpaid time off.

New Jersey has said that the following job requirements of Amazon Flex drivers make their classification as anything but actual employees, illegal and wrong:

🔺Drivers must undergo a background check and unpaid training
🔺Drivers do not seek their own clients or operate other independent businesses
🔺Drivers must use Amazon’s mobile app for shifts and delivery instructions
🔺Drivers must agree to surveillance on the app, installed on personal phones
🔺Amazon closely monitors the time and order that divers spend on their deliveries
🔺Amazon evaluates drivers with “standings” that affect how much work they get
🔺Drivers report to Amazon warehouses or other sites to pick up packages
🔺Drivers can be fired without notice

State seeks penalties, damages, and reforms in Amazon lawsuits

The state seeks, among other things, an injunction to stop Amazon from discriminating against pregnant workers and workers with disabilities, as well as fees as penalties and punitive damages against Amazon.

New Jersey is also seeking compensatory damages for those unnamed victims, for lost wages and benefits, humiliation, emotional distress and mental pain and anguish caused by Amazon’s unlawful conduct.

In the lawsuit covering Flex drivers, the state is seeking to stop the misclassification as well as payment of fines and penalties and lost wages, as well as payment into those state funds for unemployment and disability benefits.

How can NJ workers take part in the lawsuit, or file a complaint

Any current or past Amazon Flex driver in New Jersey or anyone with information concerning the lawsuit, can fill out an online form.

Any New Jersey worker who believes their employer has violated state labor law can file a wage complaint by following the guidelines here.

For more information about state benefits and protections, visit myworkrights.nj.gov.

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