Amazon Warehouse Workers’ Minimum Wage Class Action Removed to Federal Court

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 Amazon Warehouse Workers Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Amazon is facing a class action lawsuit filed by warehouse workers.
• Why: Warehouse worker Siwana Green says Amazon does not pay minimum wage, failing to pay workers for the time they need to complete mandatory security screenings.
• Where: The class action lawsuit, lodged in state court, has been removed to Pennsylvania federal court.

A class action lawsuit accusing Amazon of underpaying its workers in its Pennsylvania fulfillment centers has been removed to federal court by the retail giant.

Siwana Green, a worker at Amazon’s Tatamy, Penn fulfillment center, first filed the lawsuit against Amazon in September, accusing the company of violating the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA). She alleges that the company refuses to pay her and other warehouse workers any compensation for time spent completing mandatory security screenings.

“This includes, inter alia, time spent waiting in security lines and going through the security screening process,” she says.

Because the class action lawsuit has more than $5 million in controversy and includes a Class of workers that could be greater than 100, Amazon was successfully able to move the case from state to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act.

In its motion for removal, Amazon says it “does not concede, and reserves the right to contest, Plaintiff’s allegation that this lawsuit properly can proceed as a class action.”

Amazon Workers Forced to Undergo Unpaid Security Screenings, Claims Class Action

Green argues in her lawsuit that from August 2019 to February 2020, when she regularly worked more than 40 hours a week for Amazon, she had to undergo mandatory security screenings both at the beginning of her unpaid meal breaks and at the end of her shifts.

She asserts that Pennsylvania state labor law—unlike the federal Fair Labor Standards Act—requires Amazon to compensate warehouse workers for all time associated with the mandatory security screenings, and sites the similar case lodged against the retail giant.

Green wants to represent other Pennsylvania-based Amazon warehouse workers. She seeks unpaid wages, interest, legal fees and costs, and a jury trial.

In another wage-related class action lawsuit, Amazon is being accused by its “Relay” drivers of not paying minimum wages or overtime, not reimbursing the drivers for missed meal or rest breaks, and not paying them on time, or providing accurate wage statements.

Tell us in the comments section below if you have ever worked for Amazon and what your experience was like!

The plaintiff is represented by Peter Winebrake, R. Andrew Santillo, Mark J. Gottesfeld, and Michelle L. Tolodziecki of Winebrake & Santillo, LLC; Sarah R. Schalman-Bergen of Lichten & Liss-Riordan, P.C.; and David Garrison and Barrett Johnston of Martin & Garrison LLC.

The Amazon Warehouse Workers Wage Class Action Lawsuit is Green v. Amazon.com, Inc., Case No. 5:21-cv-05007 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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