Employer Violations Dashboard

Amazon is a publicly traded technology company, one of the Big Five tech companies,[6] which is present in many different industries such as e-commerce, cloud computing, and video streaming. Amazon employs workers directly and has numerous subsidiaries and companies that it contracts with exclusively. While Amazon’s resistance to unionization efforts has been well documented,[7] the Dashboard shows that in New York City specifically, Amazon had the highest number of open Unfair Labor Practices (“ULPs”) claims for the time period encompassed by the Dashboard. Further, Amazon had the second-highest number of total ULP violations in closed cases occurring in 2020-2022.

Open ULP cases: For the open cases, which are charges filed by workers and unions where the outcomes have yet to be determined, and which were filed from 2020 through 2023, Amazon had 153 alleged ULPs, in 56 open cases. The next highest entity, United Parcel Service (UPS) had 22 ULPs, a difference of nearly 700%. This encompasses 82 allegations of illegal interference in union organizing, 45 allegations of discrimination against employees for engaging in union and NLRB activities, and 26 bad-faith bargaining ULPs, 39 of which were filed by the Amazon Labor Union.[8] As a result, Amazon workers at the JFK8 distribution center in Staten Island have yet to gain a collective bargaining agreement, despite a majority of workers voting to unionize in 2022.[9]

Closed ULP cases: Amazon had eleven closed ULP cases over the period of 2020-2022. These were primarily related to illegal interference in union organizing.

Amazon and its subsidiaries have also committed violations of local New York City labor laws and wage theft. Regarding local New York City labor laws, in 2023 a Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law investigation resulted in a settlement where Amazon paid $222,454 in restitution and penalties in a matter that involved 273 workers at the DBK1 distribution center in Woodside. In a smaller case, the DCWP data revealed that Whole Foods in lower Manhattan also paid a penalty in a 2023 Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law settlement. Whole Foods in New York City also settled a private litigation lawsuit for $185,000, in Pierre v. City of New York et al where they “failed to properly compensate NYPD officers who worked an off-duty security program.”[10] Amazon also committed smaller wage theft violations that were investigated by the New York State Department of Labor (“NYS DOL”).

Beyond the violations documented in the Dashboard, there has been significant reporting around Amazon’s use of mechanisms to evade legal responsibility for workplace violations. This includes misclassifying workers as independent contractors[11] and utilizing a system of third-party contractors known as Delivery Service Partners (DSPs) to deliver its products to households and businesses.[12] In addition, health and safety issues have been well-documented at Amazon distribution centers.[13]

In 2023, Chipotle Mexican Grill (“Chipotle”), an expanding global fast food chain and publicly traded company,[14] had the highest number of Unfair Labor Practices (“ULPs”) violations in closed cases in New York City. Chipotle had seven ULP violations -- more than any other employer -- in the five boroughs during that time. The cases, filed by SEIU 32BJ, related to conduct that took place at locations in Manhattan and primarily violated section (8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). Specifically, this means that the National Labor Relations Board found that on at least six occasions, Chipotle responded to attempts by employees to form a union with coercion and retaliation.

Chipotle has also violated other workplace laws, including wage and hour laws, discrimination, failure to provide safe and sick leave, and the Fair Workweek Law.  In the New York State Department of Labor (“NYS DOL”) wage theft enforcement section of the Dashboard, Chipotle was the second largest offender across all cases in New York City, owing over $350,000 to over 9,000 workers in 108 different cases. This comes as part of a larger statewide NYS DOL crackdown on wage theft committed by Chipotle where they recovered over “$1 million in unpaid wages for more than 20,000 Chipotle restaurant workers across 207 locations.” [15] Chipotle also settled a class action lawsuit, with the class including workers from New York and other states, in 2021 for $8 million, in Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill. There, the lead plaintiff, who had worked at the St. Marks Place location, sued Chipotle after they failed to pay the worker for overtime hours, despite routinely working over 40 hours a week and having the same responsibilities as an hourly crew member. Chipotle had claimed that the worker was not entitled to overtime pay because they had classified the worker as an apprentice.[16]

At the local level, Chipotle settled with both the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) and the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Concerning the former, from 2020 to 2023, Chipotle paid more than any other company in the agency’s history as a consequence of failing to adhere to the Fair Work Week and Paid Safe and Sick Leave laws. Chipotle paid a total of over $22 million in combined restitution and civil penalty payments, which impacted over 9,900 workers in New York City. For the latter, in 2020, Chipotle settled with CCHR for $46,220 in a pregnancy discrimination case where Chipotle denied a request from a pregnant line cook to be excused from heavy lifting and instead required her to provide medical documentation, which violated her legal entitlement to reasonable accommodation. In addition to the monetary payment, as part of the settlement Chipotle agreed to provide training on New York City’s Human Rights Law to its general managers, post CCHR’s Notice of Rights in New York City locations, and allow CCHR to monitor reasonable accommodation requests for one year.[17]

Home healthcare agencies Fadmo, based out of Staten Island,[18] and ABI[19], based out of Queens, were the biggest wage theft offenders across all New York State Department of Labor (“NYS DOL”) cases in New York City for 2023 and the combined period of 2020-2022, respectively. In 2023, Fadmo was found to have owed more than $1.45 million to 22 workers for failing to pay minimum wage and compensate for meal periods, among other violations. ABI was found to owe over $14.3 million to 175 workers across three different investigations, all of which involved the failure to pay the minimum wage.

Smile Care, a Brooklyn-based Home Health Care agency, was the largest wage theft offender investigated by the United States Department of Labor (“US DOL”) in New York City in 2023, owing $427,400 in back wages to 246 workers.  That same year, the NYS DOL found that Smile Care owed $277,7000 to five workers across three different cases. The State’s cases involved Smile Care’s failure to pay full wages and supplemental wages to employees.

Beyond these three employers, the home health care industry is one in which wage theft is prevalent. Home healthcare agencies appeared in the Dashboard across the various wage theft data sources, and previous research[20] has found that this industry has a high rate of wage and hour violations.

In 2023, Gucci America Inc., (“Gucci”), a luxury fashion company settled with the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) for $330,000 for a sexual harassment case. This case was one of the agency’s largest monetary settlements in 2023. For almost five years, a sales associate at a retail store faced both physical and verbal harassment from a manager, as did other sales associates. Despite the employee reporting the incidents, the company took no action to address the issue, and the sales associate experienced retaliation by their manager.

In addition to the payment, of which $250,000 went directly to the worker for emotional and physical distress, the settlement required Gucci to provide “anti-discrimination training” to employees, revise their gender-based discrimination policy with oversight from CCHR, undergo CCHR monitoring, and display “Notice of Rights” posters in stores and corporate offices. [21]

Panda Express is a global fast-food chain specializing in American-style Chinese food with over 2,300 stores, 47,000 employees, and $3 billion in annual sales revenue.[22] Panda Express had the largest Fair Work Week and Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law settlement with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) for 2023, paying out $3.45M in restitution and civil penalties, which impacted over 1,400 workers. One worker who was illegally fired in retaliation for exercising their rights under the Fair Workweek Law received $8,000 as part of the settlement. DCWP found that Panda Express violated the Fair Workweek Law by not paying premiums for schedule changes, not allowing current workers to work more regular hours before hiring new workers, not obtaining workers’ consent when adding hours to their schedule, and not giving workers work schedules 14 days in advance of the start of the schedule.[23]

Separately, in an investigation that took place in 2020, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYS DOL”) found that Panda Express owed approximately $14,200 to 32 workers in New York City. The investigation found that Panda Express failed to pay its workers the minimum wage and properly compensate for meal periods.

Planned Companies (“Planned”) is a building services umbrella corporation that provides maintenance, cleaning, security, and concierge services to buildings in New York City and across the East Coast through several subsidiary companies. For the combined period of 2020 to 2022, Planned had the highest total number of closed Unfair Labor Practices (“ULPs”) cases.  These ULPs were filed by SEIU 32BJ and included twenty violations over seven different cases. These were closed as Informal Settlements, which covered thirteen violations for illegal interference in a union organizing drive, five violations for discrimination against employees for engaging in union and NLRB activities, and two bad faith bargaining violations.

In addition to the ULPs, the Dashboard data also showed that Planned committed an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) violation in 2022. Planned failed to have fall protection and falling object protection; specifically, OSHA discovered that Planned had insufficient fall protections on their staircases at their 588 Broadway, Manhattan worksite when a fatal incident occurred.  A worker “descending a staircase…fell down the first few stairs to the landing below and hit his head on the floor causing blunt force trauma.”[24]

The Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law, which enforces prevailing wage laws, including for building service workers performing duties in buildings that receive tax benefits under Real Property Tax Law § 421-a, settled with Planned for $450,000 in 2020 after finding that it failed to pay prevailing wage and supplemental benefits to workers at a residential building in Williamsburg.[25]

While outside of the data scope of the Dashboard, SEIU 32BJ filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Planned for its use of restrictive covenants in its contracts with building owners. These restrictive covenants put limits on where Planned employees can work after they leave the company, voluntarily or involuntarily, or when a building hires a different subcontractor.[26]

Timeless Roofing is a construction company, with back-to-back willful Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) violations in 2023 and 2022 for its failure to provide fall protection. Willful violations are the most severe type of OSHA violations and are defined as “a violation in which the employer either knowingly failed to comply with a legal requirement (purposeful disregard) or acted with plain indifference to employee safety.” [27]  In two residential construction projects in Flushing[28] and Oakland Gardens,[29] Queens, OSHA found that Timeless Roofing failed to provide any mechanisms to protect against falls, such as guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems.[30] In Oakland Gardens, OSHA also found that Timeless Roofing failed to provide mandated fall protection safety training.[31]

According to the New York City Department of Buildings, falls are the leading cause of fatalities and serious injuries on construction sites,[32] and according to the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), the number of falls occurring on construction sites have been on the rise.[33] Notably, fifteen of the twenty-two willful violations noted in the Dashboard were related to failure to provide fall protection. Among all these willful violations, a union was present at only one of the job sites.

Uber and Lyft are the two largest ride-sharing companies, together accounting for essentially all ridesharing apps in New York City.[34] In 2023, Uber and Lyft had the two largest wage and hour settlements involving the New York State Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”), paying $290M and $38M, respectively. Together these cases represent the largest wage and hour settlement that the OAG has ever secured.

In these two cases, dealing with similar practices, the OAG found that from 2014 to 2017, Uber and Lyft illegally deducted earnings from workers by shifting the cost of sales taxes and Black Car Fund[35] fees from passengers to drivers. As the companies engaged in this illegal practice, they also misrepresented their actions to the drivers about what they were doing. Uber told drivers that they “only deduct its commission from the drivers’ fare, and that drivers were “entitled to charge [the passenger] for any tolls, taxes or fees incurred,” while Lyft referred to these deductions as an “administrative charge.” The two companies also failed to provide drivers with paid sick leave as required under New York City and New York state law.[36]

The NYS OAG’s settlement secured large amounts of back pay and other benefits from these companies, which came as city regulators, specifically the Taxi and Limousine Commission, made headway with regulating the ride-sharing industry. In 2019, the Taxi and Limousine Commission implemented the first-ever minimum pay standard for ride-share workers.[37]