Vedaa Mercedes (Mercedes Wedaa)

Vedaa Mercedes (Mercedes Wedaa)

Biography

2022: Jeff Bezos sued over unacceptable working conditions

On November 3, 2022, it became known that the former housekeeper of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, sued the billionaire in connection with unacceptable working conditions.

It is said that the lawsuit was filed by Mercedes Vedaa, which began working at Amazon in 2019. She is alleged to have been racially discriminated against and forced to work in unsanitary conditions without a break for rest and lunch. Sometimes the working day reached 14 hours. At the same time, she also had to fulfill the functions of a leader: she oversaw the work of a team of five to six people.

According to the documents, the staff did not have a separate lounge, as well as an easily accessible toilet. Employees of the service team were forced to eat in the laundry, they were forbidden to use the toilet in the next security room. As a result, allegedly had to get out of the windows to get into the bathroom.

It is said that one of Mr. Bezos's household managers "became aggressive and offensive" towards Mercedes Vedaa and treated her and other Latin American employees differently from the service personnel of other nationalities. She was eventually fired after nearly three years in the job. Defendants in the case include Zefram and Northwestern, which appear in the lawsuit as entities managing Mr. Bezos's estate.

The defendants, in turn, say Mercedes Vedaa earned "six figures a year" and was also in charge of her breaks and lunch time herself. In addition, it is alleged that she and her employees had access to several bathrooms and recreation facilities. Ms. Vedaa initially demanded more than $9 million to resolve the conflict. Jeff Bezos' lawyers call the charges, including claims of racial discrimination, unfounded.^[1]

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