Amazon Sued Again For Lost Wages, Avoids Paying For Workers Long Waits, Walks, Covid Cks; CVS, Apple
CNET, By Laura Hautala, June 15, 2021. - Warehouse employees say screenings and distant break rooms make their shifts longer and downtime shorter. -
Eleven years ago, an Amazon worker sued the company for screening him at the end of his shifts at its warehouse to make sure he wasn't smuggling inventory out the door. The worker's complaint: It was Amazon that was taking something from him. The case made it to the Supreme Court, where the warehouse worker, now joined by others, argued that he should be compensated for going through long lines and undergoing searches through bags and pockets. Amazon required the process, the workers said, so the time should be considered work. The justices didn't agree. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled Amazon didn't have to pay workers for time spent in line or being screened. The 2014 decision is known as Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk.
Those searches have reportedly gotten much shorter, but the pandemic has brought the same issue to the fore again. In February, former warehouse workers in California sued Amazon because it didn't pay them for mandatory COVID-19 checks before shifts. Amazon says the screenings don't require payment because they were part of the larger push to keep COVID in check. "Because the pandemic threatens all members of the community, it has necessitated preventive action by everyone for everyone's benefit," the company argued in a court filing. In June, Amazon asked a judge to throw the case out. Amazon's strategy is hardly unique. Giant employers routinely ask workers to engage in time-consuming tasks like after-shift bag searches but don't pay them because the activity isn't productive for the company.
CVS and Apple have also resisted paying employees for such searches. While federal law may be on their side, the companies have had to pay under California state law. Apple is working out a class-wide settlement with its workers, and CVS settled its case for nearly $13 million in 2016, affecting about 78,000 people who'd worked for the drugstore chain. Though Amazon's practices might be similar to those at other companies, the e-commerce giant's size gives it power to shape the way employment law is applied.
Amazon now employs nearly 1.3 million people, according to company SEC filings. More than half of them are in the US, according to a Wall Street Journal estimate from September.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Amazon has churned through workers in the past year, replacing the equivalent of its workforce every 8 months, which multiplies the number of people its workplace policies have touched. This puts Amazon in the same weight class as Walmart, an employer of millions that helped effectively reshape class-action law in 2011. In a landmark discrimination case, Walmart secured a Supreme Court ruling that created a tougher legal standard for workers to sue as a class.
Like the big box giant before it, Amazon is likely to become subject to even more suits over wages, workplace conditions and discrimination as it grows (it's also currently facing a group of discrimination and harassment claims, and Black corporate employees told Vox Tuesday they've seen a pattern of resistance to addressing racist encounters and unfair practices)...
https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sued-repeatedly-for-lost-wages-avoids-paying-workers-for-long-waits-and-walks/
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