Amazon Discriminated Against Pregnant, Disabled Workers In NY: Hochul

NEW YORK CITY — Amazon discriminated against pregnant workers and employees with disabilities at its 23 workers across New York, according to a new complaint.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that state Division of Human Rights officials filed the worker protection complaint against the online retail giant.

The complaint centers around reasonable accommodations — or the alleged lack thereof — for pregnant or disabled workers. Company worksite managers discriminated against both groups by not providing such accommodations, state officials contend.

Amazon also forced pregnant workers and those with disabilities to take unpaid leaves of absence rather than provide them reasonable accommodations that would allow them to continue working, officials assert.

"My administration will hold any employer accountable, regardless of how big or small, if they do not treat their workers with the dignity and respect they deserve," Hochul said in a statement.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement that company leaders were “surprised” by Hochul’s announcement because they’ve been working with the governor’s investigator and had no indication a complaint was forthcoming.

“Ensuring all our employees, including those with disabilities and expectant mothers, feel safe and supported is extremely important to Amazon and we have numerous programs to ensure that’s the case, and while we don't always get it right with a workforce of over 1.6 million people, we work diligently to offer the best available options to accommodate individual situations,” Nantel said in the statement.

“Since we haven’t received the complaint ourselves yet, we’re not in a position to comment further.”

New York has had a knack for creating headaches for Amazon bigwigs.

The online behemoth once sought to build a headquarters in Long Island City under the largest economic development project in city and state history, but abruptly scuttled the plan in 2019 amid intense local opposition.

And this spring, an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island became the first facility in the famously anti-union company's history to successfully unionize.