Jeff Bezos is sued by housekeeper who claims she had to work up to 14-hours a day without a break

Jeff Bezos is being sued by his fired housekeeper for racial discrimination and poor working conditions after she claimed she was forced to work 14 hours a day without a break in “unsanitary conditions.”

Mercedes Wedaa worked for nearly three years at the billionaire Amazon CEO’s residence in Seattle, during which time she claimed she was disrespected for her race and was unfairly fired for filing complaints of discrimination.

She and other workers claim they had to climb out of windows to access the bathrooms during long shifts after being barred from using one in the main building.

They were also never allowed to take a break or have lunch, according to the lawsuit filed in Seattle’s King County Superior Court — but Bezos’ attorney has dismissed the claims, saying they have “no merit.”

The lawsuit is against Bezos and two companies he uses to manage his personal investments and properties, Zefram LLC and Northwestern LLC.

Wedaa worked in Bezos’ main 5.3-acre Seattle residence in the exclusive suburb of Medina, but occasionally worked in his other homes. It is believed that Bezos paid $10 million in 1998 for the property on which he has two homes.

She was hired in September 2019 and later became a head housekeeper, overseeing five to six people. She sometimes interacted with the billionaire when he was at home, the lawsuit claims.

Wedaa was paid a six-figure salary and was fired for performance issues, an insider told Geekwire. It was only after her resignation that she filed the cases against Bezos.

Before working for Bezos, she had been a housekeeper for wealthy and prominent families for 18 years, according to the lawsuit.

It is alleged that she sometimes worked up to 14 hours a day with no break room and nowhere to sit and rest.

There was also “no reasonably accessible bathroom for the housekeepers” and for 18 months they had to climb out of the washroom window before running down a path to the mechanical room to get to the toilet.

She claims that housekeepers “often” developed UTIs because they couldn’t use the toilet when they needed to.

The lawsuit claims that ‘no one ever told’ [Wedaa] she was entitled to breaks and no one ever told her to take a break. [She] didn’t know she was legally entitled to rest and lunch breaks.’

But Bezos’ lawyer has dismissed the allegations, telling DailyMail.com that she was, in fact, responsible for her own breaks and meals.

Wedaa also claims that the house managers ‘treated’ [her] and later the other Spanish housekeepers who were hired differently from white workers.’

They would have mocked, ridiculed, disrespected and humiliated her.

The lawsuit alleges her managers retaliated and fired her for complaining of “discrimination, retaliation, violations of wage and working hours laws, violations of workplace health and safety laws, and laws against hiring employees without paper’.

On her discharge papers, they cited the “ridiculously made up reason” that she was “unhappy” and had a negative effect on the team, the lawsuit alleges.

Wedaa’s Linkedin profile suggests she left the private household job in September 2022, just two months before filing the lawsuit.

Patrick Leo McGuigan, of HKM Employment Attorneys LLP, who filed the suit on Wedaa’s behalf, told Geekwire, “My client is extremely credible.

“She’s a hard-working American, someone who’s been in this industry for a number of years, the household for wealthy, high-profile families. She’s never had any problems with anyone.’

Harry Korrell, a lawyer representing Bezos, said: “We have investigated these claims, they have no value and we will defend ourselves against them.

‘Madam. Wedaa made more than six figures a year and was the leading housekeeper. She was responsible for her own breaks and meals, and several bathrooms and canteens were available for her and other staff.

“The evidence will show that Ms Wedaa was fired for performance reasons. She initially demanded more than $9 million, and when the company refused, she decided to file this suit.

“Given their background, the suggestion that Mr. Bezos, Ms. Sanchez, or Northwestern LLC discriminated against Ms. Wedaa on the basis of her race or national origin is absurd.”

Bezos owns two houses on a large lot in Medina, an exclusive suburb of Seattle where Bill Gates also lives.

According to the Wall Street Journal, he and his ex-wife paid $10 million for the 5.3-acre property 24 years ago.

One of the houses covers 20,600 square feet with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The other is 8,300 square feet with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The latter is rumored to have cost $53 million to build.

With 310 feet of Lake Washington shoreline, the estate underwent a $28 million renovation in 2010.

Bezos was married to Mackenzie Scott from 1994 to 2019, and his current girlfriend Lauren Sanchez was married to Endeavor talent agency co-founder Patrick Whitesell from 2005 to 2019.

Bezos broke up with Scott in January 2019 and he published a blog post about how David McKenzie, owner of American Media Inc., threatened to post photos of him and Sanchez while they were both married.

Sanchez broke up with Whitesell in April 2019 and their divorce was finalized in August 2019.