BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) – Amazon is stretching an already lengthy beginning to litigation with the New York attorney general.
The company wanted a federal court to rule AG Letitia James can’t sue it over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a federal judge recently ruled that James’ state court lawsuit is the best place to take care of that.
Though it could have been the kickstart for the two sides to fully debate James’ accusations, Amazon has instead chosen to appeal that jurisdictional issue to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The appeal concerns federal judge Brian Cogan’s Aug. 10 order that threw out the company’s lawsuit against James. That lawsuit attempted to block James’ lawsuit from ever being filed.
James did eventually file suit in New York state court as she argues the company botched its COVID response.
Amazon’s federal suit argument was that James’ claims were preempted by federal law and that she shouldn’t be allowed to sue.
“Here, the Attorney General’s state action seeks to enforce state labor laws and health and safety regulations, and to sanction an employer for allegedly illegal conduct that occurred within the state,” Cogan wrote.
“In other words, the general nature of the Attorney General’s state case is the enforcement of the state’s laws, particularly those aimed at protecting the health and safety of its citizens. Such an action goes to a fundamental interest of the state as a sovereign.”
Amazon says it was justified in firing two employees who violated social distancing rules, even putting forth a picture of one of them ignoring orders to quarantine.
It also says the New York City Sheriff’s Office has found it went “above and beyond” compliance requirements at its facility there, and that James’ list of demands exceeds what is appropriate.
“Among other things, the OAG has demanded that Amazon ‘disgorge’ profits, subsidize public bus service, reduce its production speeds and performance requirements, reinstate Mr. Smalls and pay large sums to Mr. Smalls and Mr. Palmer for ‘emotional distress,’ retain a health and safety consultant to oversee safety and production, and adopt safety-related policies it already implemented,” the company wrote in its federal court lawsuit.
Amazon calls the demands “exorbitant.” Its lawsuit seeks a declaration that AG James lacks the authority to regulate workplace safety responses to COVID-19 and regulate claims of retaliation.
James filed her case in New York County Supreme Court. It says Amazon has failed to institute reasonable and adequate measures to protect workers from COVID-19 at its Staten Island fulfillment center and its Queens distribution center.
“When Amazon employees began to object to Amazon’s inadequate practices and to make complaints to Amazon management, government agencies, and the media, Amazon took swift retaliatory action to silence workers’ complaints,” James’ suit says.
“In late-March 2020, Amazon fired employee Christian Smalls, and in early-April 2020, Amazon issued a final written warning to employee Derrick Palmer. Amazon’s actions against these visible critics who advocated for Amazon to fully comply with legal health requirements sent a chilling message to other Amazon employees.”
In state court, James claims Amazon failed to comply with cleaning and disinfection requirements and failed to identify potential contacts of infected workers.
“Amazon’s response to the pandemic continues to be deficient with respect to ventilation, cleaning and disinfection; and limiting, through monitoring productivity and time off task, employees’ ability to take steps that are necessary to maintain social distancing, clean their workstations and engage in sanitary and hygienic practices necessary to protect themselves and co-workers from the spread of the virus,” her office wrote.