Delivery drivers are suing Amazon for being forced to pee in bottles and defecate in bags

Three Amazon delivery drivers, including an Iraq war veteran, have claimed they were forced to urinate in bottles and defecate in dog poop bags to meet the company’s demands.

A proposed class action lawsuit filed last week in Denver, Colorado accuses Amazon of subjecting employees to “inhumane” working conditions that caused them to go to the bathroom in vans.

Prosecutors claim they took the extreme measures to ensure they did not face disciplinary action for falling behind on their deliveries.

In addition, “delivery drivers often refrained from using the toilet at the risk of serious health consequences,” the 16-page report read. document.

“Amazon is implementing this plan through hard work quotas and extensive tracking and workplace monitoring technology that make it impossible for Amazon delivery drivers to meet basic human needs while on the job,” the suit reads.

The lawsuit accuses the company of violating Colorado state law, which requires employers to provide employees with paid breaks every four hours.

It claims the company’s delivery expectations are unattainable if drivers go off route for toilet breaks and drivers will be penalized if they fail to keep pace.

The suit adds, “Near where Amazon delivery drivers terminate their delivery services, garbage cans are full of urine-filled bottles, as are garbage cans at gas stations near Amazon facilities.

“Amazon vans often smell like urine because bottles full of urine often spill on the floor of the vehicle.”

Prosecutor Ryan Schilling, a veteran of the Iraq War, claims he was forced to relieve himself in a dog poop bag in the back of the van. The lawsuit states that Schilling “often found it more difficult to find time to attend to his basic human needs while working as an Amazon DSP driver in Colorado than while actively fighting for the United States military.”

Schilling said he sometimes had to make more than 200 stops a day and deliver more than 500 packages, with each stop only taking between two and five minutes.

Marco Granger-Rivera, another accuser, claims he had to pee into a bottle “every day” while working for Amazon. The suit states that he was “about to pee and shit in his pants” a few times.

A third accuser, Lea Cross, says her “typical female anatomy” has made it more difficult to urinate on the job during a fight, in violation of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law.

Cross stated that she received calls telling her she was off course when she tried to find the toilets along her delivery route. She claims that supervisors repeatedly asked where she was and if she was lost.

On one occasion she is said to have been ‘admonished’ by an overseer who ‘told her not to interrupt her route’. Another time, she was reportedly told to buy a Shewee – a plastic funnel that makes it easier for women to urinate on the go.

Cross was fired for not keeping up with the delivery schedule.

Prosecutors also charged Amazon with violating Colorado’s payroll law by not paying them for their missed breaks.

One of the accusers claims she was told to buy a Shewee – a plastic funnel that makes it easier for women to urinate on the go

While Amazon drivers are employed by “Delivery Service Partners,” the company must “agree to Amazon’s control over nearly every aspect of their business,” the lawsuit said.

Amazon denied the lawsuit claims in a statement to DailyMail.com on Monday.

“We want to make it clear that we encourage our Delivery Service Partners to support their drivers.” spokesman Simone Griffin said.

“That includes giving drivers the time they need for breaks between stops, providing a list in the Amazon Delivery app of nearby restroom facilities and gas stations, and building time into routes to use the restroom or take longer breaks.”

The plaintiffs are demanding unspecified unpaid wages, fines and a change in Amazon’s policy.

Amazon has faced similar allegations before and apologized in 2021 after denying a lawmaker’s claim that the company’s employees are being forced to urinate in bottles.

“We know that drivers can have difficulty finding toilets due to traffic or sometimes rural routes, and this was especially the case during Covid when many public toilets were closed,” the company said in a statement. blog post.

“This is a long-standing, industry-wide problem and is not specific to Amazon. We’ve included just a few links below that discuss the issue.

“Regardless of whether this is industry-wide, we would like to solve it. We don’t know how yet, but we will look for solutions.’