photo courtesy of Radar Online
Three Colorado Amazon delivery drivers have filed a lawsuit against the company for being forced to work under allegedly “inhumane” conditions. According to RadarOnline, the class action lawsuit, filed on May 29, accused Amazon of forcing the workers to adhere to unsafe performance standards that denied their fundamental human rights.
The three delivery workers claimed that the number of deliveries that Amazon required them to make to avoid penalization was absolutely unattainable if they even took bathroom breaks; because of this, the drivers were forced to use bottles and plastic bags to relieve themselves while on their shift.
The lawsuit came after Amazon for their unsafe work environment for delivery drivers and their toxic performance metrics. One of the suing plaintiffs, Ryan Schiling – who had been working as a delivery driver for five years, described that the strict requirements of work set by the company were similar to his experience in the military. He said that he was forced to skip lunch and breaks and urinate into empty water bottles to meet the delivery requirements for his shift; he admitted that he even had to defecate in a dog poop bag several times.
Shiling told news outlets, “We’re not in a combat zone. There’s no reason I should be having to do the same things in a regular place of employment in the United States.”
The second of three plaintiffs, Leah Cross, experienced similar troubles. Cross described, “When I worked for Amazon, I had to bring a change of clothes in case I peed my pants while trying to hit Amazon’s delivery metrics.”
“I was told I couldn’t even stop to pick up some sanitary products.”
The lawsuit claimed that the problem was so widespread that the Amazon warehouse’s trash cans were filled with bottles of urine from all the drivers who used the method.
On top of the extreme requirements and unsanitary conditions, Amazon also closely surveilled the workers to prevent them from taking breaks or stopping to use the restrooms.