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A former Amazon worker and service member claims that the retail giant refuses to pay for employees’ short-term military leave in a nationwide class action lawsuit filed Thursday.
Lead plaintiff, Caonaissa Won, says that Amazon refuses to pay workers for time they need to take off for military service despite also having pay policies for jury duty and bereavement. Won claims the retail behemoth’s failure to cover at least 8,000 employees with military obligations for their short-term leave violates a federal law protecting service members – the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
Won says she worked for Amazon for several months in 2019. Won is an active-duty Army reservist and worked in an Amazon warehouse in New York. She says that she had to take two short-term leaves from her work to attend military training during that time. Despite granting the leaves, Amazon allegedly refused to pay Won.
The class action lawsuit alleges that Amazon is obligated to pay for employees’ short-term military leaves under the USERRA because it pays for jury duty and bereavement leave. Short-term leave is defined as any leave less than 30 days.
“Bereavement, jury duty, illness, and military service are involuntary in nature,” points out the Amazon worker’s complaint. “The circumstances and conditions necessitating these types of leave do not arise within an employee’s discretion. As such, an employee does not have the option of choosing when to take a given stretch of military, jury duty, witness duty, bereavement, or sick leave.”
Won says that Amazon has refused to pay for employees’ short-term absences due to military service since at least 2004. The former Amazon worker says that more than 8,000 service members, along with tens of thousands of veterans and military spouses have been employed by the retail giant.
The class action lawsuit seeks to represent other service members who worked for Amazon across the country. In addition to damages, Won wants a court order requiring Amazon to pay for short-term military leave taken by its workers.
Are you a service member employed by Amazon? Did you receive pay for your short-term military leave? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.
The lead plaintiff is represented by Ladonna M. Lusher, and Alanna R. Sakovits of Virginia & Ambinder, LLP.
The Amazon Worker Military Leave Class Action Lawsuit is Won v. Amazon.com, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-02867-RPK-CLP in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
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My military leave is a unpaid absence of leave