Exclusive: Amazon punished pregnant workers for taking breaks, lawsuit alleges

A nationwide class action lawsuit filed against Amazon on Sept. 8 alleges the company failed to make basic workplace accommodations for potentially thousands of current and previously pregnant employees, and then terminated them or threatened to terminate them when they took breaks or time off for pregnancy-related reasons. Four plaintiffs are named in the complaint.

A Better Balance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for workers' rights, shared the complaint exclusively with USA TODAY at the time of its filing. The lawsuit claims Amazon's discriminatory and retaliatory policies have been well-documented for years, including in several Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints, and have been the subject of multiple state investigations, including in New York and New Jersey.

USA TODAY has reached out to Amazon for comment and is awaiting a response.

One mother listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, 38-year-old Willamina Barclay, said she was wheeled out of the Rochester, New York, Amazon warehouse in a wheelchair during one of her shifts in June 2025. For weeks leading up to the incident, Barclay repeatedly requested accommodations including a seated position, extra breaks, no repetitive squatting, no climbing ladders and a 15-pound limit on the weight she was required to…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/travel/