E-commerce giant Amazon is facing a new lawsuit filed in Denver, Colorado on Monday. The suit alleges that it created “inhumane” working conditions for staff that required them to go to the bathroom in bottles and bags to maintain the schedule set forth by Amazon. It’s not the first time that Amazon employees have made similar claims.
Three plaintiffs, Leah Cross, Ryan Schilling, and Marco Granger-Rivera are at the heart of this new class action suit which allows them to represent a larger group of drivers. They claim that Amazon’s “harsh work quotas” and “elaborate tracking” make finding a proper restroom almost impossible.
Maybe it’s that strict schedule that caused an Amazon delivery driver to drop off a package recently despite an ongoing police standoff. Regardless, the suit also alleges that trash cans at Amazon fulfillment centers are “frequently overflowing” with bottles of urine.
Read: Unfazed Amazon Driver Drops-off Package During Armed Police Standoff And Goes Viral
Attorneys say that such conditions violate Colorado wage laws since the schedule requires workers to skip breaks that they then aren’t later compensated for. In addition, the conditions might also violate discrimination laws as they have a “disparate impact” on women.
According to Cross, a superior reprimanded her for leaving her delivery route to find a bathroom since she couldn’t pee in a bottle due to her “typical female anatomy.”
Two groups may have the chance to join the suit says Forbes. The first includes anyone who has worked as an Amazon delivery driver in the past six years and the second includes any Amazon delivery driver with “typical female anatomy.” Before anyone can join in on the class action though, the Denver state court must approve the lawsuit.
This is only the latest complaint surrounding Amazon and the treatment of its workers. Reports of similar pee bottles have surfaced over the years and we’ve documented how Amazon delivery vans sometimes penalize drivers. Some have even quit over privacy concerns.
