Calif. Slaps Amazon for Alleged COVID-19 Info Lapses
Amazon violated California labor law when it concealed from warehouse workers state-required information about COVID-19 cases in the workplace, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) alleged Monday. Amazon would be required to change its practices under a stipulated judgment agreed upon by the state and the company. Also Monday, California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) Executive Director Ashkan Soltani said the fledgling agency is focused on speeding up staffing as it develops and prepares to enforce updated state privacy rules.
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Amazon workers didn’t know about potential COVID-19 exposures, leaving them "understandably terrified and powerless to make informed decisions,” said Bonta at a livestreamed news conference. The stipulated judgment would be the first of its kind nationally, said Bonta. It would require the company to give workers information required by a 2020 state law. The California Superior Court must approve the proposed judgment, but Bonta described the action as a “done deal.”
Amazon notifications to employees and reports to local health agencies didn’t satisfy state labor code and “constituted unfair competition” under the state business and professions code, said the state’s complaint. The agreed-to judgment would require Amazon to notify warehouse workers within one day of the exact number of new COVID-19 cases in their workplaces and to notify local health agencies of cases within 48 hours. Amazon would have to better notify workers of its safety and disinfection plan and of their coronavirus rights. Amazon would be subject to AG monitoring and must pay $500,000 toward state enforcement efforts.
Amazon denies allegations in California’s complaint including that it violated any law but “enters into this Judgment for the purpose of resolving this investigation only,” said the stipulated judgment. “The Parties have voluntarily entered into this Judgment in order to avoid the time, expense, and uncertainty of litigation.” Amazon didn’t comment Monday.
Meanwhile, California’s fledgling privacy agency is digesting dozens of comments that were due Nov. 8 on a proposed rulemaking under the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). Comments will be posted on CPPA’s website once processed, Soltani told the CPPA board at a livestreamed meeting. An agency spokesperson didn’t give a more precise time frame. The agency sought comment on issues not covered by current California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) rules (see 2109230045). During the rulemaking, CPPA will work closely with the AG office, which developed CCPA rules, said board member Lydia de la Torre. California ultimately will have one set of privacy rules, promulgated by CPPA with changes from CPRA, she said. The state law requires the CPPA to complete a rulemaking to develop final regulations for enforcement by July 1.
“The resource constraints we are operating under are a major bottleneck,” said board member Chris Thompson. CPPA is a “classic example of building a plane while you’re flying it,” he said: It has a budget but not people. Soltani said CPPA must accelerate hiring staff to achieve its goals. The agency is considering applications for a general counsel and administration chief deputy director, said the executive director: Its next priorities will be to hire staff leads for HR, rulemaking and outreach. Hiring an auditor isn’t an immediate priority, with enforcement a long way off, he said.