Amazon.com Inc. defeated an attempt by employees to sue as a group in an attempt to recoup internet expenses they incurred while working from home during the pandemic.
(Bloomberg) — Amazon.com Inc. defeated an attempt by employees to sue as a group in an attempt to recoup internet expenses they incurred while working from home during the pandemic.
A federal judge in California Tuesday rejected the worker’s proposed class-action lawsuit, ruling that David Williams, a California-based engineer for Amazon, failed to show the nearly 7,000 employees had enough in common to sue as a group.
Williams didn’t show that Amazon had a “common policy” of allowing workers to only seek reimbursement for “incremental” increases in home internet costs — only the amount above what an employee would normally pay if not working home — US District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled. The judge said more than 600 of the proposed class members received reimbursements averaging more than $66 per month.
“Not only does this seem more than ‘incremental,’ it appears to be far more than what California law requires,” Chhabria wrote.
A secondary argument, that during the pandemic Amazon knew its workers were working from home incurring home internet expenses, has “more potential,” Chhabria said in his ruling. He gave Williams a chance to refile a revised complaint based on that claim.
The case is Williams v. Amazon.com Services LLC et al, 3:22-cv-01892, in the Northern District of California (San Francisco)
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