azon is Sued as Employee Brings Home Covid and Family Member Dies

E-commerce giant Amazon has been hit with a lawsuit this week for allegedly fostering the spread of the coronavirus by mandating unsafe working conditions.

These conditions caused at least one employee to contract COVID-19, bring it home, and have a family member die from it.

A complaint was filed in the federal court in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday by three employees of the JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island, and by family members. The case is Palmer et al v Amazon.com Inc., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 20-02468.

Barbara Chandler, an employee of the company, said she tested positive for COVID-19 in March and later saw several household members become sick, including a cousin who died on April 7th.

According to the lawsuit, Amazon has made JFK8, which employs about 5,000, a “place of danger.” It says that Amazon forces employees to work at “dizzying speeds, even if doing so prevents them from socially distancing, washing their hands, and sanitizing their work spaces.”

At least 800 workers in Amazon’s U.S. distribution centers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an employee’s unofficial tally.

The lawsuit is seeking injunction requiring that Amazon comply with worker safety and public nuisance laws, and not punish employees who develop COVID-19 symptoms or are quarantined.

“While most New Yorkers have remained safe by complying with the state’s stay-at-home order … for JFK8 workers and their families, home has been a place of danger,” the complaint said.

“We are saddened by the tragic impact COVID-19 has had on communities across the globe, including on some Amazon team members and their family and friends,” Rachael Lighty, an Amazon spokesperson, said to CNN Business. “From early March to May 1, we offered our employees unlimited time away from work, and since May 1 we have offered leave for those most vulnerable or who need to care for children or family members”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and have not been compensated for this article.