Amazon is suing New York Attorney General Letitia James in an effort to block legal action regarding its workplace COVID-19 protocols as well as its decision to fire an employee last spring, Bloomberg reported on Friday (Feb. 12).
The lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court asks a judge to end the attorney general’s pursuit to sue the eCommerce giant over its COVID-19 safety rules. Amazon says in the suit that it protected its employees beyond what was required.
The New York AG initiated a probe into Amazon’s conditions when workers at the company’s Staten Island warehouse launched a rally that resulted in protestor Chris Smalls getting fired. James’s office further said a lawsuit would follow if Amazon didn’t comply with demands, such as subsidizing public transportation and lowering workers’ production mandates.
The search behemoth and New York state regulators have locked horns since Staten Island warehouse workers walked off the job in March to protest alleged unsafe working conditions amid a deadly pandemic. It was the first of many such strikes by Amazon workers across the country.
Amazon’s lawsuit maintains that James exceeded her authority by seeking to punish the tech giant over safety protocols and workers’ treatment at the company’s New York City warehouses. It asked for a court order that would prevent James from having legal input into issues it said should fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
“Amazon has been intensely focused on Covid-19 safety and has taken extraordinary, industry-leading measures grounded in science, above and beyond government guidance and requirements, to protect its associates from Covid-19,” the company said in its complaint, per Bloomberg.
In January, Amazon sent a letter to the White House offering to assist the Biden administration with COVID-19 vaccination efforts, saying it already has an occupational healthcare provider lined up to administer the inoculations at its facilities.
Amazon sellers complained in chat rooms in November that merchandise is taking too long to reach customers. Instead of one to two days, shipments were taking one to two weeks.
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