Amazon sued over app that allegedly denies disability accommodations
The app allegedly routinely turns down requests for disability accommodation, the lawsuit claims.
Amazon warehouse employees are required to download an app called A to Z on their smartphones where they can input their request for an accommodation, check their schedules or ask for time off, the suit claims.
But the app routinely turns down requests for disability accommodations and does not engage in the interactive process required under the Americans With Disabilities Act, according to the suit, filed Monday in the Northern District of Texas.
Plaintiff Othea Jones, who worked loading trucks at an Amazon warehouse, sought an accommodation in the form of limited standing and no lifting over 50 pounds after a workplace incident in which she became dizzy and collapsed on November 2, 2023, her suit claims. The accommodation request came from her physician, who said she experienced a stroke, the complaint states.
Her suit claims although she could have been easily accommodated, including by giving her the opportunity to sit at work, by placing her in a different position, the lack of an accommodation forced Jones to take time off work because her high blood pressure put her at risk of another stroke. On Jan. 14, she was terminated for taking too many absences, the suit said.
“Defendant’s HR app, the A to Z app, is, to be frank, a disaster. The app routinely denies employees their accommodations and is a per se failure to engage the interactive process,” said the suit, filed by Walker G. Harman Jr. of Harman Green in Dallas, Texas.
The suit said the A to Z app “is designed to weed out employees with disabilities,” and “specifically, employees who work in defendant’s warehouses.”
The A to Z app creates routine denials of basic accommodations, and under the law Amazon must show that an accommodation would create a significant financial burden, the suit said. Amazon does not perform its due diligence as to any class member’s accommodation request because it does not state any basis through the A to Z app why accommodations are denied, the suit said. Class members are left with two options–work without accommodations, or be terminated, the suit said.
“Accordingly, defendant’s A to Z app, which functions as its general human resources department, is patently illegal and rife with discriminatory animus as it does not conform with what the law requires; specifically, that defendant engage the interactive process in a meaningful manner and provide accommodations when no significant financial hardship is present,” the suit said.
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The suit brings claims for failure to engage in an interactive process as required by the Americans With Disabilities Act and Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Law. The suit also says Amazon failed to provide reasonable accommodations, terminated Jones as a result of disability discrimination, and retaliated against her for claims of disability discrimination. The suit seeks damages for wages and emotional distress, compensatory damages yet to be determined, attorneys’ fees, interest, costs and disbursements.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has explicitly recognized an independent cause of action for the failure to engage in the interactive process in a 2009 case, E.E.O.C. v. Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., the suit said.
Harman, the lawyer representing the plaintiff and would-be class, did not respond to a call about the case. Defense counsel for Amazon has not entered an appearance. The company did not respond to a request for comment on the suit.