{"id":144674,"date":"2021-02-18T08:05:48","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T13:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=144674"},"modified":"2021-02-18T08:13:38","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T13:13:38","slug":"new-york-sues-amazon-over-alleged-worker-exploitation-amid-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-sues-amazon-over-alleged-worker-exploitation-amid-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Sues Amazon Over Alleged Worker \u2018Exploitation\u2019 Amid Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-york-sues-amazon-over-alleged-worker-exploitation-amid-pandemic%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=144674&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Amazon-logo.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Amazon on Tuesday night, alleging the company repeatedly violated COVID-19 protocols amid the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>James\u2019 lawsuit accuses two Amazon facilities of violating COVID protocols and unlawfully disciplining and firing employees who complained about the alleged violations. The suit follows an investigation into the facilities launched in March last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile Amazon and its CEO made billions during this crisis, hardworking employees were forced to endure unsafe conditions and were retaliated against for rightfully voicing these concerns,\u201d James said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/ag.ny.gov\/press-release\/2021\/attorney-general-james-files-lawsuit-against-amazon-failing-protect-workers\">statement<\/a>. \u201cSince the pandemic began, it is clear that Amazon has valued profit over people and has failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers. The workers who have powered this country and kept it going during the pandemic are the very workers who continue to be treated the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we seek to hold Amazon accountable for its actions, my office remains dedicated to protecting New York workers from exploitation and unfair treatment in all forms,\u201d James added.<\/p>\n<p>According to James, the online retailer would not sufficiently contact trace employees who tested positive for COVID-19 and ignored many employees who reported coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for the illness. Amazon also failed to shut down parts of its facilities where outbreaks of COVID-19 happened.<\/p>\n<p>The state attorney general\u2019s investigation uncovered two alleged instances of illegal retaliation against employees for reporting concerns over Amazon\u2019s pandemic protocols and cases of COVID identified at the facility. James\u2019 suit seeks to force Amazon to award backpay and damages to its employees, as well as forfeit all profit made while the company was in alleged violation of the law.<\/p>\n<p>In March, former Amazon worker Chris Smalls, mentioned in James\u2019 lawsuit, claimed he was fired by the online retailer for leading a strike against it for violating COVID protocols. Amazon claimed that Smalls was fired after he had repeatedly violated COVID protocols during work. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/amazon-fires-worker-who-led-strike-over-coronavirus-working-conditions\">The Daily Wire<\/a> reported:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Chris Smalls said he was fired Monday after he organized the strike, CNBC&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/amp\/2020\/03\/30\/amazon-fires-staten-island-coronavirus-strike-leader-chris-smalls.html\">confirmed<\/a>. Amazon told the outlet that Smalls was fired because he ignored \u201cmultiple warnings for violating social distancing guidelines\u201d and refused to quarantine himself even though he had contact with another worker who tested positive for COVID-19.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDespite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came onsite today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk,\u201d an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. \u201cThis is unacceptable and we have terminated his employment as a result of these multiple safety issues.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Smalls released his own statement.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAmazon would rather fire workers than face up to its total failure to do what it should to keep us, our families, and our communities safe,\u201d Smalls said in a statement to media outlets. \u201cI am outraged and disappointed, but I\u2019m not shocked. As usual, Amazon would rather sweep a problem under the rug than act to keep workers and working communities safe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Amazon on Tuesday night, alleging the company repeatedly violated COVID-19 protocols amid the pandemic. James\u2019 lawsuit accuses two Amazon facilities of violating COVID &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2181464,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Amazon-logo.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"New York Sues Amazon Over Alleged Worker \u2018Exploitation\u2019 Amid Pandemic","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Amazon-logo.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"New York Sues Amazon Over Alleged Worker \u2018Exploitation\u2019 Amid Pandemic","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2181464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}