4 November, 2022 | Riya Girdhar
Amazon CEO is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Former housekeeper of the billionaire has filed a lawsuit accusing the Bezos family of racial bias and inhumane working conditions
The former housekeeper of billionaire Jeff Bezos sued her employer for alleged racial discrimination and a toxic work environment.
The complaint was filed against Bezo and two of his companies that manage the billionaire’s properties and personal investment- Zefram LLC and Northwestern LLC.
The former head housekeeper, Mercedes Wedaa, filed a lawsuit against the Amazon founder in Seattle’s King County Superior Court. In a complaint filed this week, Wedaa alleged that the wealthy Seattle-based family discriminated against her during her three years of employment and even retaliated when she raised complaints about the lack of breaks or a separate eating area for the employees.
Mercedes Wedaa started working as a ‘house coordinator’ at the Bezos household in September 2019. The lawsuit stated that Wedaa was the only housekeeper on staff and that another employee was hired in the year 2020. Wedaa was then supervising a handful of housekeepers by late last year.
The employees made some shocking allegations about the inhumane work environment. They claimed that they had to climb out of a window to be able to use bathrooms during long shifts as they were not allowed to use the one inside the main house. They also stated that the workers frequently developed Urinary tract infections (UTIs) owing to the lack of bathroom access.
Rebutting all claims, Jeff Bezos’s attorney Harry Korrel said that the allegations were absurd and lacked merit. Furthermore, he added that Wedaa resorted to this lawsuit after her demand was a $9 million payout was turned down by the family.
