Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Class action lawsuit alleges Amazon punishes employees for legally protected absences, discriminates based on disability, (Nov 17, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The employee alleged Amazon substantially delayed her requested accommodations, forcing her out of work and onto unpaid, unwanted, and unnecessary leaves of absence.

An employee of Amazon.com Services, LLC, filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York alleging that the employer violated federal and New York state law by maintaining absence control and disability accommodation procedures that chill employees’ exercise of their legal rights. The lawsuit seeks individual injunctive relief and damages, as well as injunctive relief on behalf of similarly situated employees.

Absence control system. The complaint alleges that Amazon has maintained a punitive absence control system under which automated systems track employee attendance, automatically imposing discipline up to and including termination. The system does not only punish employees for unexcused absences, but it also punishes employees for absences protected by federal and New York state law, the complaint alleges. Under this system, employees live under constant threat of punishment if they become sick or injured or need time off to care for a family member. The plaintiff alleges she was punished for missing work after Amazon forced her to stay home while awaiting necessary accommodations for her disability.

Delay in accommodation. Although the plaintiff carefully followed Amazon’s protocol regarding accommodation requests, Amazon engaged in substantial delay in implementing the accommodations, forcing her out of work and onto unpaid, unwanted, and unnecessary leaves of absence when other work was available. The employer also subjected her to recurrent, invasive requests for medical documentation, despite her provision of rigorous medical documentation of her medical condition and need for accommodation.

Amazon also subjected the employee to cruel, derogatory comments and inappropriate questioning about her medical condition, punishing her for her disability and retaliating against her for attempting to exercise her rights to reasonable accommodation. Finally, Amazon punished the plaintiff for requesting reasonable accommodations by deducting from her unpaid time off (UPT) balance and repeatedly threatening her with termination while she was forced to stay home while awaiting accommodation.

Claims. The complaint alleges Amazon’s accommodations and absence control policies violate the rights of all of Amazon’s hourly employees with disabilities, chilling employees’ exercise of their legal rights. Amazon’s individual treatment of the plaintiff also constituted disability discrimination, retaliation, and interference in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, disability discrimination in violation of the New York State Human Rights Law, and retaliation for lawful absence in violation of the New York Labor Law. The lawsuit seeks individual injunctive relief and damages for these violations, as well as injunctive relief on behalf of herself and other similarly situated employees.

The case is No. 1:25-cv-09423.

Companies: Amazon.com Services, LLC

News: LitigationNewsTrends Discrimination DisabilityDiscrimination