Amazon employee with bowel problem fired for taking too many bathroom breaks
Maria Iris Jennitte Olivero filed a lawsuit in the New Jersey Superior Court seeking damages and included a timeline of her employment at the company beginning from July 2020
- Aug 23, 2021,
- Updated Aug 23, 2021 10:53 AM IST
An ex-Amazon warehouse employee, who suffered from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has claimed that the US-based e-commerce firm fired her from the job for taking too many bathroom breaks.
Maria Iris Jennitte Olivero filed a lawsuit in the New Jersey Superior Court seeking damages and included a timeline of her employment at the company beginning from July 2020. Amazon has already responded in the US District Court, attempting to move this case to the federal court.
Olivero is suing the company for failing to accommodate an employee with a disability as per the New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination. As per Olivero’s filing, when she told a manager that she has IBS and will have to use bathroom for up to six times a day, the manager followed up by telling her to get a doctor’s note.
Olivero further mentioned in her filing that her manager had said back in January that she had to submit a doctor’s note within five days but the first available doctor’s appointment was six days later, Business Insider reported. “At that time, (Olivero) was informed by (her manager) that it was ‘too late’ to provide a doctor’s note and that she was being terminated by Defendants,” her complaint stated.
Though she did not mention the amount she was seeking as damages, Amazon claimed she was expected to seek around $75,000 as damages. It also detailed Olivero’s wages in its filing. “Plaintiff earned $15.25 per hour, or $312,720.00 annualised, and received a $0.60 per hour shift differential, or $1.248.00 annualised. Therefore, at the time of this filing, plaintiff’s purported gross lost wages to date are $17,251.75,” Amazon said in its retaliatory filing.
Edited by Mehak Agarwal
Also read: Amazon orders US employees to wear masks as COVID-19 Delta variant cases surge
Also read: 'You guys paid for all this': Jeff Bezos thanks employees for space trip, gets roasted
Also read: Jeff Bezos tells Amazon to take better care of its employees in his last letter as CEO
An ex-Amazon warehouse employee, who suffered from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has claimed that the US-based e-commerce firm fired her from the job for taking too many bathroom breaks.
Maria Iris Jennitte Olivero filed a lawsuit in the New Jersey Superior Court seeking damages and included a timeline of her employment at the company beginning from July 2020. Amazon has already responded in the US District Court, attempting to move this case to the federal court.
Olivero is suing the company for failing to accommodate an employee with a disability as per the New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination. As per Olivero’s filing, when she told a manager that she has IBS and will have to use bathroom for up to six times a day, the manager followed up by telling her to get a doctor’s note.
Olivero further mentioned in her filing that her manager had said back in January that she had to submit a doctor’s note within five days but the first available doctor’s appointment was six days later, Business Insider reported. “At that time, (Olivero) was informed by (her manager) that it was ‘too late’ to provide a doctor’s note and that she was being terminated by Defendants,” her complaint stated.
Though she did not mention the amount she was seeking as damages, Amazon claimed she was expected to seek around $75,000 as damages. It also detailed Olivero’s wages in its filing. “Plaintiff earned $15.25 per hour, or $312,720.00 annualised, and received a $0.60 per hour shift differential, or $1.248.00 annualised. Therefore, at the time of this filing, plaintiff’s purported gross lost wages to date are $17,251.75,” Amazon said in its retaliatory filing.
Edited by Mehak Agarwal
Also read: Amazon orders US employees to wear masks as COVID-19 Delta variant cases surge
Also read: 'You guys paid for all this': Jeff Bezos thanks employees for space trip, gets roasted
Also read: Jeff Bezos tells Amazon to take better care of its employees in his last letter as CEO