The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Monday an appeal from Amazon.com, requiring them to pay their warehouse employees as they go through anti-theft security screenings following their shifts.
Supreme Court justices turned away Amazon and their contractor, Integrity Staffing Solutions, on the first day of their new term.
A group of Amazon workers filed a lawsuit in 2010 against the shipping giant and their staffing company for what they describe as mandatory “post-9/11 type of airport security” screenings to combat theft by employees.
The workers sued, claiming these screenings lasted around 25-minutes after their shift and argued they should be paid for it.
According to Reuters, Amazon argued in court briefs the workers’ claims were “grossly inaccurate,” with an Amazon spokesperson telling The Washington Times the “data shows that employees typically walk through security with little or no wait.”
The case dismissal comes after a 2014 ruling by the Supreme Court, which decided companies do not have to compensate employees for mandatory security checks — amending the Fair Labor Standards Act.
After Kentucky federal court consolidated the plaintiff’s case with similar ones, a judge used the 2014 Supreme Court ruling to strike down the case. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio overturned the ruling in 2018.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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