Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Pregnancy Discrimination

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Amazon by advocacy group A Better Balance and law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel on behalf of four female former workers at Amazon facilities in Rochester and Lancaster, New York.

The complaint alleges that Amazon systematically denied pregnant employees basic workplace accommodations, including bathroom breaks, water breaks, and the use of a chair without first demanding a doctor's note, which is an unlawful requirement for such routine requests according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

When the plaintiffs took pregnancy-related breaks or missed shifts while awaiting decisions on their requests, Amazon's automated attendance systems deducted hours from their unpaid time off banks, eventually triggering termination warnings and dismissal.

Amazon denied the accusations, stating that it provides pregnancy-related accommodations to tens of thousands of employees annually and approved more than 99.9% of requests in the last year.