Amazon Sued By NY Attorney General Over COVID-19 Safety Issues -Report

Amazon is being sued by New York’s Attorney General Letitia James over the e-commerce giant’s handling of employee safety issues around the COVID-19 pandemic at two of its warehouses, Reuters reported on Feb. 17.

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According to the complaint, Amazon’s (AMZN) push for faster growth and higher profits led to its “flagrant disregard” of safety measures needed to protect its workers from the coronavirus at its warehouses in Staten Island and Queens, both located in New York City, Reuters said.

“Throughout the historic pandemic, Amazon has repeatedly and persistently failed to comply with its obligation to institute reasonable and adequate measures to protect its workers. Amazon has cut corners in complying with the particular requirements that would most jeopardize its sales volume and productivity rates,” Reuters cited parts of the lawsuit.

Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in response to James’ lawsuit, “We care deeply about the health and safety of our employees, as demonstrated in our filing. We don’t believe the Attorney General’s filing presents an accurate picture of Amazon’s industry-leading response to the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Amazon had filed its own lawsuit around four days back in a Brooklyn federal court to stop NY’s attorney general from suing, Reuters said. The company had also come under scrutiny in March last year when Amazon workers had complained about the working conditions at its Staten Island warehouse.

Amazon’s latest blowout earnings saw the e-commerce giant crossing the $100 billion quarterly revenue threshold for the first time. (See Amazon stock analysis on TipRanks)

Last week, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth reiterated a Buy on the stock. Feinseth said, “During the past year, AMZN has significantly ramped up capital investment, especially in warehouse facilities and fulfillment capabilities, investing in a significant increase in administrative and engineering staff and warehousing and delivery staff. AMZN will continue to see significant growth across all of its business lines.”

The analyst added, “AMZN’s industry-leading positions in critical areas, along with its innovative ability, will further drive increasing Economic Profit that will continue to drive greater shareholder value creation.”

The rest of the Street is bullish about the stock with a Strong Buy consensus rating. That’s based on 33 unanimous Buy ratings. The average analyst price target of $4,093.06 implies about 25% upside potential to current levels.

According to the TipRanks Smart Score system, Amazon scores an 8 out of 10, indicating that the stock has a high likelihood of outperforming the market.