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New York Attorney General Sues Amazon Over COVID Safety Conditions at Staten Island Warehouse

The suit alleges that the retail giant did not identify contacts of workers who tested positive for the virus, and fired a worker who organized a protest.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Amazon over alleged workplace safety violations in a Staten Island warehouse during the early stages of the pandemic, according to a suit filed in court Tuesday. The suit alleges that Amazon’s “flagrant disregard for health and safety requirements has threatened serious illness and grave harm to the thousands of workers,” including failing to adequately sanitize the workplace, and not identifying contacts of workers who had fallen ill of the coronavirus.

Earlier this week, Amazon had preemptively sued James, seeking to block any litigation by arguing that her office does not have the grounds to regulate workplace safety or retaliatory firing of employees. The state’s lawsuit seeks changes to the retail giant’s reportedly brutal workplace conditions, as well as damages, and the reinstatement of a worker, Christian Smalls, who was fired in April after organizing a protest outside the Staten Island warehouse.