Amazon faced at least seven lawsuits filed by pregnant warehouse workers who were fired over the last eight years, tech portal CNET reported. The women, who had worked at the retail giant's warehouses, claimed they were discriminated against because of their pregnancy. Beverly Rosales, one of the women who filed the lawsuits, said she was fired from her job barely two months after she had informed her manager at Amazon that she was expecting.
Rosales, who filed her suit in January, said her bosses hassled her about how much time she was taking to use the bathroom and how her work pace slowed during her pregnancy, the report claimed. "Amazon wants to push out as much product as possible," Rosales was quoted as saying. "They need as many people that don't need accommodations to work there. They care more about the numbers than their employees." Amazon denied that it monitors the length of bathroom breaks.
"It is absolutely not true that Amazon would fire any employee for being pregnant; we are an equal opportunity employer," an Amazon spokeswoman was quoted as saying in a statement. "We work with our employees to accommodate their medical needs including pregnancy-related needs. We also support new parents by offering various maternity and parental leave benefits." Six of the cases were settled out of court.
The Seattle-based retail giant, which employs over 600,000 people, faced criticism for poor treatment of employees earlier too. The company, however, made efforts in the past year to highlight the benefits it offers warehouse employees. In November last year, it raised its starting pay to $15 an hour, and said it would start advocating for a higher federal minimum wage in the US, which is $7.25, the report said.
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