Amazon, an American multinational technology company that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence has been made to pay $500,000 over claims that it concealed Covid-19 cases from its warehouse workers.
The claim is that Amazon, the employer of tens of thousands of warehouse workers in the state, throughout the pandemic was inadequate in notifying warehouse workers and local health agencies of Covid case numbers, “often leaving them in the dark and unable to effectively track the spread of the virus.”
The company reached a settlement with California authorities which includes the payment of $500,000 towards additional enforcement of the state’s consumer protection laws. The agreement which is still subject to court approval includes that the company will notify local health agencies within 48 hours of new Covid-19 cases.
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The California State Attorney, Rob Bonta, in a statement stated that the company has agreed to notify warehouse workers within one day of new Covid cases, as well as provide the exact number of cases in their workplace.
Amazon Spokesperson, Barbara Agrait said in her statement, “We’re glad to have this resolved and to see that the AG found no substantive issues with the safety measures in our buildings.”
She further said that there’s no change to, nor allegations of any problems with the company’s protocols related to notifying employees who may have been exposed to Covid.
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This is after the warehouse and delivery workers previously criticized the company’s contact tracing and case notification protocols, claiming they were inadequate.
Recall that, Amazon was also fined last October for coronavirus safety violations at two warehouses in the state.
