Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Joliet, Illinois, have filed a complaint against the company with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging abuse, racial discrimination and retaliation.
According to the complaint filed Tuesday, a group of Black employees at the MDW2 Fulfillment Center said Confederate images on co-workers’ clothing, racist death threats in restroom stalls, and a lack of security and accountability have all contributed to an anti-racial work environment since late 2021. The attorney for institutional abuse and women’s rights, Tamara Holder said her clients are now seeking not only workplace changes to adequately address and resolve these issues, but also financial compensation for emotional pressures caused by stressful working conditions.
“We don’t know what that amount is at this point. But I can tell you that after working in a climate that is anti-racial, people experience extreme emotional distress,” she told ABC News. “Our message to Amazon is that their behavior after our cases come to light only increases our damage because people tend to be more scared than less.”
Amazon employee Tori Davis listens during a press conference in front of an Amazon Go in Chicago. July 27, 2022.
Chicago Tribune via Getty Images
As the case receives more attention, Holder said employees are reluctant to comment further on these allegations for fear of further retaliation from management at the MDW2 fulfillment center, raising concerns for the future of this case and livelihoods their customers gives.
“They allegedly tell their employees that if they speak up, they will be fired because they signed an agreement to remain silent,” Holder told ABC News.
According to Holder, former MDW2 employee Tori Davis was the first to contact her about the camp’s work environment. Davis, who was fired earlier this month after raising the alarm about her concerns, told ABC affiliate WLS that Amazon’s death threats were denied.
“They tried to sweep it under the rug,” Davis said. “The way that situation was handled was strange.”
An Amazon delivery station and fulfillment center stand in Burbank, California on June 24, 2022.
Getty Images, FILE
A spokesman for Amazon, Richard Rocha, issued a statement to ABC News.
“Amazon works hard to protect our employees from any form of discrimination and to create an environment in which employees feel safe. Hate or racism has no place in our society and certainly will not be tolerated by Amazon,” the statement said.
The MDW2 fulfillment center did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Holder said she plans to do everything in her power to pursue the complaint and ensure her clients’ voices are heard.
“I think that here they had the opportunity to do better. And instead they take a very, very different aggressive stance to make it worse,” she said. “They’re not too big for me and they’re not too big for the people I represent … We’re not going away.”