financetom
Economy
financetom
/
Economy
/
Amazon must comply with US agency's pregnancy bias probe, judge rules
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Amazon must comply with US agency's pregnancy bias probe, judge rules
Jul 12, 2024 7:33 AM

(Reuters) - A New York federal judge has ordered Amazon.com ( AMZN ) to comply with a subpoena from a U.S. civil rights agency investigating claims that the online retailer discriminated against pregnant warehouse workers.

U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan late Thursday rejected Amazon's ( AMZN ) claims that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) subpoena was too broad and sought irrelevant information.

The EEOC is seeking data on requests that pregnant workers at five U.S. warehouses made for accommodations such as limits on heavy lifting and additional breaks, and whether Amazon ( AMZN ) granted or denied them.

The commission's probe was prompted by complaints from five women who say they faced pregnancy discrimination while working at Amazon ( AMZN ) warehouses in New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, and California.

Amazon ( AMZN ) provided the EEOC with more than 200,000 pages of data in response to the subpoena, but not the specific information requested by the agency, according to court filings.

Schofield in her ruling said the information sought in the subpoenas was necessary for the EEOC to determine whether Amazon ( AMZN ) engaged in illegal discrimination. The judge gave Amazon ( AMZN ) until Aug. 9 to comply with the subpoena.

Amazon ( AMZN ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. An EEOC spokesman declined to comment.

In 2022, a New York state agency filed an administrative complaint accusing Amazon ( AMZN ) of requiring pregnant and disabled warehouse workers to take unpaid leaves of absence, even if they were capable of working, instead of providing accommodations. That case is pending.

Amazon ( AMZN ) has denied wrongdoing and said it strives to support its workers, but acknowledged in a statement responding to the New York complaint that "we don't always get it right."

The EEOC launched its probe last year and issued a subpoena seeking five categories of information, including data on accommodations Amazon ( AMZN ) provided to warehouse workers with disabilities. At the time, federal law only required companies to provide the same accommodations to pregnant workers that they gave to employees with disabilities.

A law passed later last year mandates that employers accommodate workers' pregnancies regardless of how they treat workers with disabilities.

(This story has been refiled to add a dropped letter in paragraph 9)

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
JPMorgan has a new way to gauge its green progress
JPMorgan has a new way to gauge its green progress
Nov 15, 2023
As the largest energy banker, JPMorgan is a frequent target of criticism over Wall Street’s role in the climate crisis. At the same time, the bank is a leading US arranger of green bonds, making it vulnerable to Republicans seeking to protect the fossil fuel industry.
In fight to curb climate change, a grim report shows world is struggling to get on track
In fight to curb climate change, a grim report shows world is struggling to get on track
Nov 14, 2023
The State of Climate Action report released on Tuesday by the World Resources Institute, Climate Action Tracker, the Bezos Earth Fund and others looks at what's needed in several sectors of the global economy power, transportation, buildings, industry, finance and forestry to fit in a world that limits warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times, the goal the world adopted at Paris in 2015. The globe has already warmed about 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid-19th century.
India looking into 'freak' incidents like damage to Sikkim's Chungthang dam: RK Singh
India looking into 'freak' incidents like damage to Sikkim's Chungthang dam: RK Singh
Oct 18, 2023
Stressing on the need to have quick ramp up and ramp down energy sources for grid balancing, the minister described hydroelectric power's role as essential in the path to energy transition as wind energy is intermittent and the sun doesn't shine 24×7.
Zoomed Out | Critical Minerals — why India's current strategy to become self-reliant is so vital
Zoomed Out | Critical Minerals — why India's current strategy to become self-reliant is so vital
Nov 29, 2023
Internationally, there are genuine security concerns related to the criticality in building more diverse and dependable value chains for critical minerals, about their environmental and social sustainability, and technological challenges. While, India has taken the right steps for creating an ecosystem for accelerated exploration and production of critical and new age minerals, observes FICCI Mining Committee Co-Chair Pankaj Satija.
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved