Four former Amazon workers sue over alleged pregnancy accommodation firings

Complaint says Amazon required medical proof for basic requests

Four former Amazon warehouse employees filed a class-action lawsuit alleging the company illegally punished and ultimately fired them for seeking accommodations related to their pregnancies. The suit, led by four ex-warehouse workers, claims Amazon violated the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

According to the complaint, Amazon deducted workers from their bank of unpaid time off or flagged them for “time off-task” when they took medically necessary breaks. One plaintiff was flagged for excessive time off-task for pumping in the company’s lactation room, the lawsuit said.

As the plaintiffs depleted their unpaid time bank and accrued time-off-task flags, they were threatened with termination, the lawsuit alleges. Amazon eventually terminated the four employees under its disciplinary policies, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges Amazon also required medical documentation for every pregnancy-related accommodation request, including basic requests to sit down, take restroom breaks or take an extra 15-minute break. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act entitles workers to reasonable accommodations and pregnancy-related absences.

“Amazon ignores the law, forcing pregnant employees to continue working without modifications, at great risk to their health,” the lawsuit reads.

The plaintiffs seek changes to Amazon’s policies and compensation for previous and current violations of the federal law. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit follows earlier legal actions targeting Amazon’s treatment of pregnant workers. In 2021, a group of U.S. senators asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces workplace antidiscrimination laws, to investigate allegations that Amazon failed to provide reasonable accommodations, citing multiple lawsuits filed in the late 2010s.

In October 2025, New Jersey’s then-attorney general, Matthew Platkin, sued Amazon in state court over its treatment of pregnant and disabled workers.