California subpoenas Amazon over worker safety in pandemic

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Monday asked a judge to order Amazon to comply with subpoenas his office issued nearly four months ago as part of an investigation into how the company is protecting workers from the coronavirus at its facilities.

Becerra said the online sales giant hasn't provided enough information on its coronavirus safety steps and the status of infections and deaths at its shipping facilities across California. The attorney general is President-elect Joe Biden's pick to be the first Latino to lead the Health and Human Services Department.

“We’re investigating because we got reports, information, complaints about conditions, incidents,” Becerra said. While the investigation is ongoing, “we believe that it merits looking into Amazon’s protocols, practices, based on information that we have received."

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment left through an email that the company provides for members of the media.

Becerra wants a Sacramento County Superior Court judge to find that the company hasn't given specific details on its coronavirus prevention efforts in response to subpoenas issued Aug. 19, including its sick leave policies and cleaning procedures. He also wants access to the company's raw data on the number of infections and deaths at its facilities in California.

“We urgently need to know about complaints made by Amazon associates to the company about working conditions, potential retaliation taken against employees who raise these workplace safety concerns,” he said. ”We don’t have time to drag our feet...our state finds itself in the thick of this pandemic.”

His office wants to know which facilities have the highest infection rates, how the company defines which employees have been diagnosed with the virus, any contacts it has...