Amazon cuts a relatively tiny check to disappear claims it broke the law by withholding COVID-19 data from staff

Amazon will cough up $500,000 to settle a case brought by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta for concealing from health agencies and its own staff the number of COVID-19 cases among its workers. Bonta filed a complaint on behalf of the US West Coast state, claiming the e-commerce giant had broken California’s Assembly …

[Chris G]

BS?

"This judgment sends a clear message that businesses must comply with this important law. It helps protect us all.”

No it doesn't, the message it sends, is that any corporation that has a handy cash pile can buy their way out breaking laws any time they like.

Half a million is tea money for Amazon, if that.

The law is protecting nobody and is failing to protect the people who ought to benefit from it and the authorities are guilty of neglect of duty.

[AVR]

Re: BS?

About $3 per employee in the state. It'd be at least a year before they could be fined for this again practically speaking. Not even tea money - there is a problem with fines scaled to merely ordinary size businesses being meaningless to multinationals, and not just in the US.

[Falmari]

Re: BS?

@AVR "About $3 per employee in the state."

The fine should be per employee they have failed to inform, which can't be the case here. Because that would mean a company with 5 employees would only be fined $15.

[sanmigueelbeer]

Re: BS?

American justice "system", after all, is the best that money can buy.