Jeff Bezos sued by ex-housekeeper over racial discrimination by his workers

Mercedes Wedaa, who joined the billionaire Amazon.com Inc. founder’s workers in September 2019, generally labored 10 to 14 hours a day and supervised a crew of 5 to 6 housekeepers, in response to her grievance filed Tuesday in Seattle state courtroom.

Workers didn’t have a chosen break room or relaxation space and no simply accessible restroom, in response to the grievance. Housekeeping workers would attempt to eat in a laundry room, and have been prohibited from utilizing a rest room in a close-by safety room, forcing them to climb out a window to entry a rest room, in response to the grievance.

“We’ve investigated these claims, they haven’t any advantage, and we’ll defend towards them,” Harry Korrell, an legal professional who represents Bezos and different defendants, mentioned in an emailed assertion.

Considered one of Bezos’s family managers “grew to become aggressive and abusive” with Wedaa, and handled her and different Hispanic workers in another way than Bezos’s White groundskeepers and upkeep workers, she alleged. She was in the end terminated after almost three years of employment, in response to the grievance. 

“Labor and employment legal guidelines say working individuals have to be paid for the work they carry out, and should be capable to to carry out that work in a protected, sanitary and wholesome office,” mentioned Patrick McGuigan, a lawyer representing Wedaa. 

Wedaa seeks again pay and advantages, in addition to financial damages, in response to the grievance.

Defendants within the case embody Zefram LLC and Northwestern LLC, which the lawsuit identifies as entities that handle Bezos’s properties.

The lawsuit was reported earlier by Seattle know-how information web site GeekWire.

The case is Wedaa v. Bezos, 22-2-18053-6, Superior Court docket of Washington, King County (Seattle).