Class Action Alleges Amazon Refused to Accommodate Former Worker’s Medical Needs

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A proposed class action out of California alleges Amazon.com Services, LLC has discriminated and retaliated against certain employees who’ve requested reasonable accommodations for their medical needs.

The lawsuit was filed by a former Amazon fulfillment associate who claims to have been constructively discharged in December 2020 after requesting a change to her schedule to accommodate her osteoporosis and stress fractures in both feet. The case alleges Amazon violated California’s Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA) and other state statutes by failing to offer the plaintiff a reasonable accommodation and instead pushing her to take an unpaid leave of absence that, according to the complaint, ultimately forced her out of her position.

The suit claims Amazon’s conduct was “malicious, fraudulent, oppressive, mean, vile, despicable, and in conscious disregard of Plaintiff’s rights.”

The plaintiff, a California resident, says she was hired as a fulfillment associate at Amazon’s Bakersfield fulfillment center to work a reduced schedule of 30 to 39 hours per week. Upon her hiring, the plaintiff informed Amazon’s human resources department that she suffers from osteoporosis in her ankles and legs and stress fractures in both feet that cause pain during excessive walking or standing for prolonged periods of time, according to the complaint.

On the plaintiff’s second day of work, October 30, 2020, she began experiencing “unbearable” pain after four or five hours on the job and thereafter submitted an accommodation request via Amazon’s online employee portal, the suit relays. The case says the plaintiff submitted on November 9 a note from her doctor that indicated her schedule should be limited to six hours of standing and walking per day with no more than 25 hours per week, and no standing in place for more than 15 minutes.

The complaint then details an alleged “forty-one (41) days of [the plaintiff] not receiving a response to her accommodation request, continued insistence by Defendants that Plaintiff take a leave of absence, notices of termination for job abandonment juxtaposed with beratement for showing up to work, and prolonged suffering of financial hardship due to suspension without pay.” 

According to the lawsuit, Amazon refused to grant the plaintiff’s accommodation request and instead forced her to take a leave of absence without consent and despite her insistence that she was fit and ready to work with proper accommodations in place. The only purported accommodation offered to the plaintiff, the suit says, was a “light duty” social distancing position that would require her to walk the length of the fulfillment center and remind employees to social distance. The plaintiff claims that she requested a change of schedule, not of position, and that Amazon’s solution would have forced her to be on her feet for her entire shift.

By December 11, the suit says, the plaintiff “considered herself having been constructively terminated” due to Amazon’s failure to properly respond to her accommodation request and mixed messages as to whether she should show up for work.

The lawsuit alleges Amazon has implemented and enforced a “no restrictions” policy whereby employees are pushed to take unpaid leave instead of being offered reasonable accommodations. Moreover, the lawsuit alleges Amazon retaliates against employees who attempt to exercise their rights under the FEHA by insisting that their medical needs be accommodated and complaining about Amazon’s allegedly discriminatory conduct.

Initially filed in Kern County, California Superior Court in November 2021, the lawsuit was removed to the state’s Eastern District Court on December 22.

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