Amazon to Pay $500,000 in California Over Covid Notifications

U.S.|Amazon agrees to wage $500,000 successful California implicit claims that it hid Covid-19 cases from workers.

• Nov. 16, 2021, 6:55 a.m. ET

Amazon has agreed to wage $500,000 to assistance enforce California’s user extortion laws aft the institution was accused of concealing Covid-19 lawsuit numbers from its workers, officials said connected Monday.

The judgment, which is taxable to tribunal approval, is the archetypal of its benignant nationwide and is successful enactment with a California “right to know” instrumentality that was designed to support workers harmless during the pandemic, according to a quality release from the lawyer general’s office.

Under the arrangement, Amazon indispensable besides archer its warehouse workers wrong a time astir the nonstop fig of caller Covid-19 cases successful their workplaces, guarantee that notifications adequately pass workers of the company’s disinfection and information plans, archer wellness officials astir caller cases and taxable to monitoring by the lawyer general’s bureau regarding its Covid-19 notifications.

Amazon did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected Tuesday.

A ailment filed successful Superior Court successful Sacramento maintained that Amazon’s actions had prevented employees and the nationalist from gaining afloat entree to accusation regarding Covid-19 cases.

The state’s lawyer general, Rob Bonta, said that specified accusation was important for workers making hard decisions regarding their wellness successful the pandemic.

“Amazon’s practices led to workers not knowing if they had been perchance exposed to two, 20 oregon adjacent 200 cases of Covid-19,” helium said astatine a quality league connected Monday. “This near galore workers understandably terrified and powerless to marque informed decisions to support themselves and to support their loved ones.”

“No corp is excessively large to travel the law,” Mr. Bonta said. “This is simply a immense triumph for the information and wellness of Amazon’s tens of thousands of warehouse workers, their families and our communities passim this state.”

He said that the judgement sent a wide connection that businesses indispensable comply with the law, and that it was peculiarly important arsenic the engaged vacation play approached.