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Amazon has been delivered a lawsuit after allegedly failing to give employees scheduled breaks, not paying them for missed breaks and not reimbursing them for business calls made on private phones.
The proposed class action lawsuit was filed in San Francisco on March 26, with lead plaintiff Lovenia Scott accusing the online retail giant of breaching labor laws by denying her breaks in addition to skimping and being late on payments to her.
Scott worked at Amazon’s Vacaville, California warehouse from October 2016 until January 2019, where she was a logistics specialist working as an hourly employee.
During her time at the company Scott, and other employees, regularly missed out on their entitled 30 minute break for every five hours worked, due to Amazon’s lack of a meal and rest period policy and its refusal to schedule breaks as part of a shift. The lawsuit also states when employees were able to take breaks, they had to listen to their walkie talkies and respond to issues.
“Accordingly, Plaintiff and the putative class were provided with shortened meal periods due to the time spent listening and responding to work-related obligations on their walkie talkies.”
Due to the company’s lack of organization, employees often took breaks at the same time resulting in 10 to 15 minute long lines of people trying to clock in and out, further shortening break periods, the lawsuit alleges.
“Plaintiff and the putative class members were instructed by Defendants to take a break if and when ‘they could get it.’ However, the immense volume of work to be completed prevented Plaintiff and the putative class members from ever taking their break,” states the complaint.
This proposed class action lawsuit comes just days before Monday’s union-vote deadline for Amazon workers at the Bessemer, Alabama plant. The vote will determine whether workers will form the company’s first-ever union, marking a major event in the labor rights movement no matter the result of the vote.
The vote comes at a time Amazon is facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers over its power and huge profits amidst the coronavirus pandemic, on top of its treatment of workers.
And this is not the first time the company has landed in court over treatment of its employees. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled Amazon did not have to pay workers at a Nevada warehouse for the time they spent waiting to have their bags searched once they had clocked off at the end of a shift, The Verge reports.
But in March 2021, Amazon and independent contractor Green Messengers were ordered to pay $6.4 million for wage theft when the California Labor Commission found they were underpaying drivers and forcing them to skip meal and rest breaks, according to Freight Waves.
In addition to Amazon not reimbursing employees for using their personal cellphones for business, Scott also says the company fails to provide accurate wage statements and pay correct hourly and overtime pay.
The proposed class action lawsuit includes the Hourly Employee Class, where Scott seeks to represent anyone employed by Amazon or any third parties as warehouse employees in hourly or non-exempt positions in California during the relevant time period. There is also a Meal Period Sub-Class; a California-based Rest Period Sub-Class; a Wage Statement Penalties Sub-Class; a Waiting Time Penalties Sub-Class; a California-based UCL Class; and a California-based Expense Reimbursement Class.
Scott is seeking certification of the Class, unpaid wages, damages, restitution, interest, penalties, legal fees and a jury trial.
Do you work for Amazon? Do you believe you get enough time for lunch and bathroom breaks at your job? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below or click here to learn more about joining a wage violation class action lawsuit.
Lovenia Scott is represented Shaun Setareh, Thomas Segal and Farrah Grant of Setareh Law Group.
The Amazon Lunch Break Class Action Lawsuit is Lovenia Scott vs. Golden State, FC, LLC (Now Known as Amazon.com services LLC), et al., Case No. 3:21-cv-02147, in the US District Court Northern District of California San Francisco Division.
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