Amazon is the largest online retailer in the western world and is a legitimate powerhouse in the business and political worlds in the State. But the company is in for a rough time, not least of which is a pending lawsuit that alleges that the company has not been giving its workers mandated meal breaks during the workday.
Even worse, the lawyers involved in the suit, first filed in February this year in California, are pushing to have it scaled up to class-action status.
Endangered Amazon?
One Lovenia Scott, who used to work at the company’s Vacaville, California warehouse, first alleged that Amazon was not scheduling its workers for 30-minute lunch breaks. When workers were allowed to take some down-time, they were expected to keep a walkie-talkie on hand and drop the break if something called them back to the floor.
Scott also claims that the company’s clock-out procedures led to some staff taking shorter breaks than they were entitled to (the company has won a similar lawsuit before), based on where they were in a queue. In addition, the warehouse was “chronically understaffed”, staff were not compensated for using their personal mobile devices for work, and, Scott said, Amazon failed to pay her final wages in a timely fashion.
There’s more, of course. Amazon wouldn’t be the massive company it is if it couldn’t shrug off a single lawsuit, but there’s also the possible unionisation of its Bessemer, Alabama warehouse, which takes place later today. Plus, the company has been arguing on Twitter with American politicians, a situation where nobody came out looking okay.
Source: The Verge
Header image: Bryan Angelo on Unsplash
