Amazon Music can’t sink a Black former worker’s suit alleging her responsibilities were reduced and she was placed on a performance improvement plan for complaining about her manager, a New York federal judge said, ruling her claims are viable based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Amazon Race Bias Suit : Judge Partially Denies Amazon’s Motion to Dismiss
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian partially denied Amazon.com Inc.’s motion to dismiss the discrimination and retaliation suit brought by Keesha Anderson, a former Amazon Music employee. Anderson’s claims are under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act and New York state and local laws.
Judge Subramanian noted that when Amazon sought to dismiss the case in January, Second Circuit case law required a worker alleging discrimination to show a “materially adverse change” to their employment. However, the high court’s April decision in Muldrow v. St. Louis changed the landscape. The justices held that employees only need to show they faced “some injury” from a job transfer to bring a discrimination suit under Title VII. Judge Subramanian said this logic extends to Section 1981, impacting the Amazon race bias suit.
