California Slaps Amazon with $5.9 Million Fine Over Unsafe Work Practices Allegations

California fined Amazon $5.9 million, accusing it of violating the state's Warehouse Quota Law and jeopardizing worker safety. The fines, issued by the California Labor Commissioner's Office, involved facilities in Riverside and San Bernardino. Amazon disputes the allegations and has already appealed the citations.

California has imposed a $5.9 million fine on e-commerce behemoth Amazon, accusing the company of enforcing warehouse quotas that compromise worker safety, according to state officials. The California Labor Commissioner's Office issued the fines in May, citing violations at Amazon facilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, east of Los Angeles.

The state's Warehouse Quota Law, effective since 2022, mandates that warehouse employers must provide written notice of quotas and potential disciplinary action for failing to meet them. The fines amount to $1.2 million for a facility in Redlands and $4.7 million for another in Moreno Valley.

Amazon contested the allegations, stating that it doesn't have fixed quotas and that performance evaluations occur over long periods. 'The truth is, we don't have fixed quotas,' said company spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel. Nevertheless, the California Labor Commissioner's Office argued that Amazon's practices put workers at risk by enforcing undisclosed quotas, leading to increased injury rates.

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