Topline
Three Amazon delivery drivers have filed a class action lawsuit against the e-commerce behemoth, claiming they faced “inhumane” working conditions that prohibited them from stopping to go to the bathroom while working.
Amazon workers filed a lawsuit alleging they had to pee in bottles while on the job.
Key Facts
The lawsuit, filed Monday in a Denver state court, alleges Amazon’s working conditions forced drivers in Colorado to urinate in bottles and defecate in bags inside the delivery trucks and refrain from using the bathroom “at risk of serious health consequences.”
The plaintiffs, drivers Leah Cross, Marco Granger-Rivera, and Ryan Schilling, argue Amazon’s “harsh work quotas” and “elaborate tracking” makes it nearly impossible for workers to veer off course to use a restroom.
Trash cans in Amazon fulfillment centers, where drivers begin and end trips, are “frequently overflowing” with bottles of urine that employees have thrown away, according to the lawsuit.
Such conditions allegedly violate several Colorado wage laws because they force employees to work through breaks and do not compensate them for missed breaks, the suit says.
The conditions also violate discrimination laws because they have a “disparate impact” on women—Cross was reprimanded by management for diverging from her delivery route to find a bathroom as she could not pee in a bottle “because she has typical female anatomy,” per the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is a proposed class action, meaning the three plaintiffs have agreed to represent a larger group of drivers, but the suit must first be approved by the court—the two groups of employees eligible to be included are anyone who has worked as an Amazon delivery driver for Amazon in the past six years, and any Amazon drivers with “typical female anatomy.”
Forbes reached out to Amazon for comment.
Key Background
Starting in 2019, Amazon was increasingly under scrutiny for the practices it used to accomplish its high-speed delivery promises, bringing to light workers’ claims they had to pee in bottles to remain on schedule. In 2021, the company’s public relations team responded to a tweet from Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan (D), denying the allegations that Amazon workers had to pee in bottles and saying that, if it were true, no one would work for the company. Roughly a week later, Amazon released a public statement apologizing for the tweet and calling it incorrect. “We know that drivers can and do have trouble finding restrooms because of traffic or sometimes rural routes, and this has been especially the case during Covid when many public restrooms have been closed,” the company wrote. Internal company documents obtained by The Intercept showed Amazon management was aware of a proliferation of bottles containing urine inside trucks and at fulfillment centers.
Tangent
Amazon has faced several other disputes regarding workers’ rights, including several fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for violations of injury record-keeping and unsafe conditions in three warehouses. It has also faced lawsuits from Black employees claiming discrimination and from the New York Attorney General alleging the company failed to provide a safe environment during Covid-19.
Further Reading
Amazon Denies Workers Pee in Bottles. Here Are the Pee Bottles. (Vice)
Documents Show Amazon Is Aware Drivers Pee In Bottles And Even Defecate En Route, Despite Company Denial (The Intercept)Amazon apologizes for denying that its drivers pee in bottles (CBS)
OSHA cites Amazon for workplace conditions that were ‘failing to keep workers safe’ (ABC)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/05/24/delivery-drivers-sue-amazon-for-being-forced-to-pee-in-bottles/