E-commerce giant Amazon has been ordered to pay a fine of $500,000 for hiding the number of COVID-19 cases at its California workplaces from employees.
California attorney general Rob Bonta said in a press release that the penalty comes after a complaint filed against Amazon alleged that the company didn’t properly notify warehouse workers and local health agencies about new COVID-19 cases “often leaving them in the dark and unable to effectively track the spread of the virus.”
This is the first fine related to California’s COVID “right to know” (AB 685) legislation, which was passed last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the LA Times reported. Under the law, employers are required to alert workers who were potentially exposed to COVID-19 within one day, and must also report COVID-19 case numbers to local health agencies within 48 hours if they “meet the definition of a COVID-19 outbreak.”
“As our nation continues to battle the pandemic, it is absolutely critical that businesses do their part to protect workers now — and especially during this holiday season,” Bonta said in the press release. “Californians have a right to know about potential exposures to the coronavirus to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”
