Class Action Says Amazon Illegally Denies Accommodations to Employees with Disabilities Through A to Z App

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Amazon.com Services LLC refuses to reasonably accommodate workers with disabilities.

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The 13-page Amazon lawsuit takes issue with the online retail giant’s human resources app “A to Z,” wherein employees are instructed to submit disability accommodation requests. According to the case, the defendant has hired a team of “accommodation consultants” to “weed out” requests made through the A to Z app without ever meaningfully assessing whether an employee can be given an accommodation.

The complaint claims that Amazon’s process for handling accommodation requests—which is allegedly run by “distant” people unknown to the employees who make the submissions—routinely results in the denial of basic accommodations and is inherently illegal under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“Defendant’s HR app, the A to Z app, is, to be frank, a disaster,” the proposed class action claims.

Under the ADA, employers are required to engage in an interactive process regarding what accommodations should be provided to employees with disabilities, the filing explains. Employers are also legally obligated to make adjustments for employees with disabilities unless doing so creates a “significant financial burden,” the case relays.

“The law requires that an employee make a request for an accommodation and then continue a dialogue with the employer,” the complaint says. “[T]he law does not require an employee go through voluminous channels, automated responses, and appeal procedures before being able to speak to a real, live person about their accommodation.”

The disability discrimination lawsuit was filed by a Texas resident who says she began working at an Amazon warehouse in October 2023, stacking items on delivery tracks. After the woman suffered a light stroke during one of her shifts, she was evaluated by her doctor, who found she had high blood pressure and hypertension, the case relays.

Amazon’s medical provider reached the same conclusion about the plaintiff’s health and said she would need workplace accommodations that limited her standing time and excused her from lifting more than 50 pounds over her head, the case says.

The plaintiff claims her accommodation request was repeatedly denied in the A to Z app with no explanation, which forced the woman to sporadically take time off of work when her elevated blood pressure put her at risk of another stroke.

Per the filing, the plaintiff was abruptly terminated in January 2024 for accruing too many absences despite only taking off when her health demanded it or when Amazon prohibited her from returning to work after her stroke.

“[The] plaintiff could have been easily accommodated in a variety of ways, including by giving her the opportunity to sit at work, by placing [the] plaintiff in another role with similar job responsibilities, or by allowing [the] plaintiff a leave of absence without punishing her for time off work,” the suit contends.

The lawsuit looks to represent any Amazon employees who had or have a disability and had an accommodation request submitted through the A to Z app denied.

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