Amazon Allegedly Fires Worker with Long COVID and Bills Her for Salary Overpayment

Brittany Hope, a former full-time brand manager for Amazon, has filed suit against the company in a New York federal district court. Hope claims that the retail giant wrongfully terminated her for “job abandonment” in July 2020 after taking medical leave for developing long-term health complications from a COVID-19 infection. She also claims that Amazon violated state and federal disability laws and state labor laws in terminating her employment. Hope is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages and costs from Amazon and her former supervisor, Sandra Finkelstein. 

The case is Brittany Hope v. Amazon.com Services LLC and Sandra Finkelstein, case number 1:22-cv-03537, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Hope returned to her hometown in Alabama, in March of 2020, to quarantine and work remotely, due to lockdown orders. The transition to remote work was rocky, as Hope’s team was working with factories in India, which necessitated late-night phone calls. Hope was working 17-hour days and alleges that Finkelstein micromanaged her by bombarding her with emails and texts about work-related matters.

Hope began experiencing depression and anxiety, and in May 2020, she also developed COVID-19, which led to long-term medical problems, including chest pain and severe lung damage. Even though she was severely ill and off work, Finkelstein continued to contact her about work-related matters, whether at home or in the hospital. 

Hope then filed a medical leave request due to her continuing medical problems. Her request locked her out of the company’s internal portal and email, so she could not apply for leave benefits or communicate with her case manager. Finally, on July 7, 2020, an Amazon case manager advised her that the company had approved her request for medical leave from May 4, 2020, to July 12, 2020. 

On August 5, 2020, Hope checked her personal email account and discovered correspondence from Amazon stating that the company had terminated her for job abandonment on July 12, 2020, while she was still on medical leave. Amazon also billed her for an alleged salary overpayment of $12,272.73.

Hope’s complaint also references a New York Times article published concerning an investigation into Amazon’s workplace practices. This article specifically addressed the company’s strict policies about time off and attendance of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, including excessive monitoring, a lack of breaks, dysfunctional medical leave systems, delayed leave benefits, and unwarranted terminations. 

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