A former housekeeper of Jeff Bezos is suing the billionaire because her working conditions are said to have been appalling. Mercedes Wedaa claims she had to work hours overtime in unhealthy conditions, with no access to a separate lunch room or proximity to a toilet. The former employee would also have been a victim of racism.
Wedaa joined companies that managed the Amazon founder’s villas in 2019 and sometimes worked ten to 14 hours a day, court documents state. She was in charge of a team of five or six cleaners.
In the lawsuit, filed in a Seattle court, Wedaa says these staff members had no separate space for breaks and had to go to great lengths to reach a bathroom. The employees ate lunch in a laundry room. The use of a toilet in a nearby security area was not allowed, forcing the cleaners to climb through a window to reach another toilet.
“Treated differently than white employees”
One of the managers in Bezos’ house is also said to have behaved aggressively towards Wedaa. He also treated her and other employees with a Latin American background differently from white employees, she says in the indictment.
A lawyer for Bezos called Wedaa’s charges unfounded. Counsel reports that Wedaa earned a “six figure amount” as an annual salary and she was responsible for arranging her lunch. He says that the former employee initially demanded 9 million euros after her dismissal and filed a lawsuit when she did not get her way. “The evidence will show that Ms. Wedaa was fired for her performance,” it said.
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