'lawsuit against Amazon, New York'

The U.S. state of New York filed a lawsuit against Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce company, saying it did not protect workers amid the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

According to Reuters on the 16th (local time), Leticia James, the Attorney General of New York, filed a complaint with a state court in Manhattan, New York, citing Amazon's serious disregard for the procedures needed to protect workers from Corona 19.

The Amazon businesses in question in the lawsuit are Staten Island Customer Order Processing Center and Queens Shipping Center, both of which are located in New York state jurisdiction.

"During the unprecedented pandemics, Amazon repeatedly and consistently violated its obligations even though it had to take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect its workers," James said.

"Amazon has ignored procedures to make it easier to handle things in compliance with certain mandatory requirements that have the greatest impact on sales and productivity growth," he added.

James also pointed out that Amazon illegally retaliated against workers who had challenged the Korona 19 response.

In fact, Amazon fired Christon Smalls, a worker at its Stanton Island business, who had been demanding higher wages and stricter measures against Corona 19.

In response, Amazon stated that the violation of social distancing was the reason for dismissal, but Smalls claimed that he was targeted after pointing out the company's problems first.

New York prosecutors are seeking to strengthen Amazon's workers' protection, reinstate Smalls and compensate workers for unfair retaliation from the company.

Amazon, on the other hand, claims the lawsuit is not true.

"Amazon is deeply concerned with the health and safety of our employees," an Amazon spokesman said. "The prosecutor general's accusation does not accurately show the industry-leading Amazon's response to pandemics."

Amazon filed a separate complaint last week in preparation for the New York prosecution's lawsuit. In this complaint, Amazon said it took measures such as regular inspections, body temperature checks, and payment of safety equipment to respond to Corona19, and spent $11.5 billion (about 12.74 trillion won) to do so.