Brittany Hope, 29, a former brand manager for Manhattan-based Amazon fashion line The Drop, is seeking damages for violating federal and New York City laws regarding incapacity for work.
She said that she was hospitalized after being diagnosed with influenza on February 3, 2020, four months after her appointment, weeks before the start of the spread of the Corona virus in the United States.
She added that she “later realized” that she had “severe Covid symptoms.”
The complaint filed in Manhattan federal court did not say whether Hope had been diagnosed with COVID-19. She stated that Hope also filed a complaint with the US Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity.
Hope said that after the pandemic spread and she worked long hours, she began to have suicidal thoughts and her physical health deteriorated.
She said she requested sick leave on May 12, 2020, which prompted the company to block her work email and the company’s work and leave requests page.
She added that Amazon fired her two months later for “absence from work” and required her to pay $12,273,000 that the company alleges were in excess dues.
The complaint stated that Hope “was unable to complete the process of requesting a leave of absence from her work due to the long duration and severity of the symptoms of Covid that she had.”
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