The attorney general’s office declined to comment further. Last month, James called Smalls’s firing “immoral and inhumane.” Her deputy labor bureau chief tweeted the NPR report Monday night.
At the end of March, a group of workers at the Staten Island fulfillment center walked off the job to demand Amazon close the facility for extended cleaning. They said a number of their colleagues were diagnosed with Covid-19. Seattle-based Amazon said at the time that Smalls violated safety regulations, including failing to abide by a 14-day quarantine required after being exposed to an employee with a confirmed case of Covid-19.
Amazon said it’s taken “extreme measures” to keep its employees safe, including increasing time off and pay.
“We encourage anyone to compare the health and safety measures Amazon has taken, and the speed of their implementation, during this crisis with other retailers,” Lisa Levandowski, an Amazon spokesperson, said in an emailed statement.
Read More: Amazon Exec Called Fired Worker ‘Not Smart’ in Leaked Memo