Amazon sued by pregnant workers
Discrimination complaint cites lost jobs, threats
By: Madeline Mitchell
USA today
..... A nationwide class-action lawsuit filed against Amazon September 8 [2026] alleges the company failed to make basic workplace accommodation for pregnant employees, and then terminated them or threatens to do so when the took breaks or time off for pregnancy-related reasons.
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The lawsuit claims Amazon's discriminatory and retaliatory policies have been well-documented for years, including in several Equal Employment Opportunity commission complaints, and have led to state investigations.
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The workers' rights nonprofit A Better Balance shared the complaint exclusively with USA Today ahead of its filing and provided access to the four named plaintiffs.
..... "Ensuring the health and well-being of our employees is one of our greatest responsibilities and we strive to provide a safe and supportive environment for everyone, which includes supporting tens of thousands of employees with pregnancy accommodation each year," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. "In the past year, [2025] more than 99.9% of pregnancy related accommodations requests have been approved. The accounts shared by A Better Balance contain inaccuracies and omit important details."
..... One of the plaintiffs, 38-year-old Willamina Barclay, said she repeatedly requested accommodation at the Amazon warehouse in Rochester, New York, including a seated position, extra breaks, no repetitive squatting, no climbing ladders and a 15-pound limit on the weight she was required to lift. Her doctor classified her pregnancy as high-risk and she had recently miscarried at work, she aid.
..... Amazon unreasonably delayed approving her request, the complaint states, and ultimate only granted some of those modifications.
..... One day in June, [2026] Barclay said she doubled over in severe abdominal pain while lifting heavy objects. She left in a wheelchair and her sister took her directly to the hospital. The next day, Amazon sent Barclay a "Termination Warning Email" for taking too much unpaid time off, according to the complaint.
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On her next work day, Barclay said, she called out with a doctor's note explaining she was suffering a pregnancy-related condition. amazon fired her four days later, according to the complaint.
..... The lawsuit calls for Amazon to reform its polices and demands compensation for violations. But more than that, A Better Balance President Inimai Chettiar said, she hopes the lawsuit calls attention to pregnant workers' rights especially as the EEOC plans to propose regulations changes top the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in November. [2026]
.... Though all pregnant workers can take protected breaks at work under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, workers across the United States report violations and discriminatory remarks.
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In a June [2026] survey of nearly 4,000 mothers by the National Partnership for Women and Families, nearly half of the respondents who were employed while pregnant said they needed temporary changes such as carrying a water bottle, working while seated, taking frequent bathroom breaks or avoiding lifting heavy objects. But 35% said their employer made only partial adjustments and 9% said their employer made no adjustments at all. Pregnant workers of color and those in the lowest income brackets were less likely to receive needed pregnancy accommodations.
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Family physician Dr. Bayo CurryWinchell said workplace accommodations are essential for the helaht of some pregnant paints. Pregnancy increases risk for injury and falls, and studies have found increase risk of preeclampsia and preterm birth among pregnant people in physically demanding jobs.
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Pregnant people can also develop lower back pain, pubioc bone pain and swollen legs and feet, said family physician Dr. Alexa Mieses Malchuk, which "can be made worse by physical labor."
..... Nearly 200 amazon workers have called A Better Balance's helpline so far in 2026, Chettiar said. Most have similar stories to those in the lawsuit, which outlines Amazon's "unlawful policy" of demanding medicaid paperwork for every pregnancy-related accommodation "no matter how basic" and "forcing pregnant employees to continue working whiteout modifications, at great risk to their health."
..... When Jennifer Hatch, 47, found she was pregnant in January 2025, she requested regular opportunities to sit, among other typical accommodation, at Amazon's warehouse in Lancaster, New York. Amazon, she said, wanted confirmation that she was pregnant, even though she was already showing.
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Amazon repeatedly denied her request for accommodations, per the complaint. when she tired to sit down once in March 2025, a soite-level manager forced her to complete her shift while standing, "which made her light-headed and caused her severe abdominal pain," the complaint states.
..... Later that month, [03/2026] she was fired. She said she later found out that, like Barclay, the breaks she took had cut into her unpaid time off bank and triggered her termination.
..... Kristina Green, 31, was six months pregnant when she was hired at Amazon's Rochester warehouse in September 2025. She requested a role that did not involve climbing ladders or lifting more than 25 pounds, in additions to extra breaks to eat, rest her legs and sue the bathroom, the suit says.
..... While she waited for her request to be approved, every break she took drained her unpaid time off blanc. For two months she continued to request a transfer to a role that didn't require heavy lifting or climbing ladders, and was denied every time, per the lawsuit.
..... Green took unpaid medical leave for childbirth toward the end of 2025. when she returned to work in late January 2026, she ran into another round of unpaid time off disputes, this time for the breaks she too to pump breast milk. Green claimed she was written up several times for taking too long to pump before she was fired in May. [2026]
..... Barclay, a single mother, was unemployed for months after Amazon fired her. She was visibly pregnant in interviews, and "nobody" would hire me," she told USA today.
..... "I really don't want pregnant women to experience the things that I've experienced at Amazon," Barclay said. "I don't want them to feel like they're disposable."
..... Madeline Mitchell's roll; covering women and the care giving economy at USA Today is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. funders donor provide editorial input.