Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, introduces a new lunar landing module called Blue Moon during an event at the Washington Convention Center May 9, 2019 in Washington, DC.
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A woman who says she worked as a housekeeper for Jeff Bezos is suing the Amazon founder and companies that manage his properties, claiming she endured “unsafe and unhealthy working conditions” and was the victim of racial discrimination at the hands of fellow employees.
Mercedes Wedaa said she was hired by Bezos employees in 2019 to help maintain the billionaire tech tycoon’s Seattle-area property. Wedaa and other domestic workers routinely worked between 10 and 14 hour days and were not given adequate meal or rest breaks, she claimed in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in King County Superior Court in Seattle.
The lawsuit alleges there was no designated break room or rest area and no easily accessible bathroom. Wedaa and other householders were banned from using a toilet in a nearby security room, which led to employees climbing out a laundry room window to gain access to a bathroom, according to the lawsuit, previously reported by GeekWire .
The complaint alleges that Wedaa and other housekeepers often developed UTIs because they had to “spend large parts of the day not using the toilet”. Housekeeping staff were also reportedly banned from entering the residence when the Bezos family was there unless they were cleaning.
Housekeeping managers allegedly mistreated Wedaa and other Hispanic cleaners while being “respectful and courteous” to Bezos’ white groundsmen and maintenance staff, the complaint said.
Wedaa claims she was eventually fired from her position after raising complaints about working conditions and discriminatory behavior.
Harry Korrell, an attorney for Bezos and other defendants including Zefram and Northwestern, two companies that manage his interests and properties, said Wedaa was fired because of performance issues.
“We have investigated the claims, and they are unfounded,” Korrell said in an emailed statement. He said Wedaa was making over six figures annually and that she and other employees had multiple bathrooms and break rooms at their disposal.
Patrick McGuigan, an attorney representing Wedaa, told CNBC in a statement, “No employer is above the law, not even Jeff Bezos and the organizations he uses to find and hire people who will work for him in his home and work on his other properties. Federal and state labor and employment laws require workers to be paid for the work they perform and to be able to perform their work in a non-discriminatory, safe, sanitary and healthy workplace. These laws must be observed by all employers.”