New York City's mayor has ordered a human rights probe into Amazon's firing of a warehouse worker who led a strike against the company over coronavirus safety concerns
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that he has ordered the city's human rights commissioner to investigate Amazon's firing of a warehouse worker who participated in a protest against the company, according to Reuters.
Amazon fired Chris Smalls, an assistant manager at the company's Staten Island, New York, facility on Monday evening after he helped organize a strike earlier in the day to protest Amazon's health and safety policies following a colleague testing positive for coronavirus.Amazon has denied Smalls' accusations, saying it fired him for repeatedly "violating social distancing guidelines and putting the safety of others at risk" after it asked him to stay home on paid sick leave after he came into "close contact with a diagnosed associate with a confirmed case of COVID-19," the company told Business Insider in a statement Monday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James spoke out against Smalls' termination Monday evening as well, calling Amazon's decision "disgraceful," and telling Business Insider that her office is "considering all legal options" and has called on the National Labor Relations Board to open its own investigation.Amazon has faced pushback from workers as well as regulators who say it hasn't done enough to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus, with workers in Italy protesting over similar issues last week. Amazon has confirmed COVID-19 in at least 11 of its warehouses.
Amazon has implemented additional cleaning and social distancing measures, the spokesperson told Business Insider. However, critics have argued that the measures haven't gone far enough as Amazon tries to balance the safety of workers with increased demand for its services.Copyright © 2021. Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.For reprint rights. Times Syndication Service.
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