Amazon is under investigation in California for failing to protect its warehouse employees from the new coronavirus.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the San Francisco department of public health “have opened investigations into Amazon’s practices” around the pandemic, the San Superior Court Judge wrote Francisco Ethan Schulman in a court filing on Monday.
Amazon and government agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The online retailer is accused of putting workers at “unnecessary risk” by having them share equipment, such as freezer suits, and not allowing additional time to respect social estrangement, according to the document. The presentation originates from a case filed by Chiyomi Brent, a worker at Amazon’s distribution center in San Francisco.
Schulman refused on Monday to issue a preliminary court order that would have closed the warehouse where Brent works until further precautions are taken. He said Brent had not shown that immediate damage was possible and that three government agencies investigating Amazon were better prepared to handle their concerns.
SFDPH told Schulman that Amazon’s practices at the San Francisco facility had improved between the July 7 and July 16 visits, while Cal / OSHA told the judge that its investigation is ongoing after an inspection. July 14.
The attorney general’s office told the court last week that its state investigation into Amazon, which dates back to at least May, is also ongoing.
As millions of Americans fled to the location in early 2020, Amazon saw orders for household goods soar, fueled by customers who were no longer shopping at physical stores. Meanwhile, workers complying with these orders say they lacked adequate protection against coronavirus infections.
In April, Amazon was accused of firing three critics of the company’s response to the pandemic, and workers participated in a disease nationwide. The workers claimed that Amazon did not provide enough face masks for the workers, did not implement regular temperature controls in the warehouses as promised, and declined to give the workers sick leave.
Amazon has declined to publicly publish numbers of Covid-19 infections, but workers began tracking the numbers themselves using a tool from the advocacy group United for Respect. Based on that count, there have been more than 80 Covid-19 case reports in the state of California since March.
Amazon has argued in court documents that it has taken many steps to protect workers, extensively cleaning and disinfecting San Francisco facilities and equipment, including freezer suits, which require masks and social distancing, among other measures. In a statement earlier this month, an Amazon official said it was not aware of any coronavirus cases at the facility.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office sent a letter to Amazon in April saying the giant e-retailer may have violated security measures and labor practices amid the coronavirus pandemic. The letter came after Amazon broke up Christian Smalls, a critic of the company’s warehouse conditions in the pandemic, for violating a paid quarantine.
