DENVER — A former employee at two Amazon warehouses in Colorado Springs has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the company of violating Colorado law by requiring employees to take unpaid time to undergo COVID screenings before clocking in to work.
The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court, says Amazon violated Colorado state law by not properly paying for time worked.
The lawsuit says that since March 2020, the company has required employees to undergo health screenings before clocking in at its warehouses. The lawsuit says employees often had to arrive early and wait in long lines to answer health screening questions and have their temperatures checked. The whole process often took 20 to 60 minutes, according to the suit.
According to the lawsuit, even before the pandemic, Amazon required warehouse employees to work off the clock for a few minutes each day. That time included the time required to get an employee badge and meet with a shift assistant to receive job duties for the day. At some warehouses, workers also underwent unpaid security screenings after they clocked out, according to the suit.
The filing proposes a class action, saying the class could include more than 10,000 employees from at least five Colorado warehouses.
An Amazon spokesperson said because the litigation is active, they are not in a position to comment.
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