Edith Cooper,

As Chair of Amazon’s Leadership Development and Compensation Committee, you have the authority—and the responsibility—to act immediately on an issue that demands your attention.

Under the federal Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, pregnant workers are entitled to reasonable accommodations—like lighter duties and extra breaks—even without a doctor’s note. But Amazon isn’t granting them. Instead, pregnant Amazon workers are sharing stories of being forced to work at a breakneck pace, and even being forced to lift heavy products and climb tall ladders even with big baby bumps in late pregnancy. The result? Severe health complications, miscarriages, and total loss of income with no ability to access parental leave benefits as Amazon workers are either terminated or quit due to their impossible circumstances. 

These are not isolated incidents. Instead, they are part of a pattern of Amazon workers being seriously injured, and then being treated as disposable—pushed into medical debt and poverty because Amazon refuses to take responsibility and, in many cases, simply fires them, leaving them without income or an ability to secure new work as they struggle to heal from their Amazon-induced disabilities. It’s hard to imagine any other area of Amazon’s business where a failure of this magnitude would be allowed to continue.

Since July 2024, these workers have been requesting a meeting with you, Amazon’s Board of Directors, and Amazon’s Vice President of Safety to ensure Amazon brings its policies into compliance with the law. With the summer heat intensifying, these issues are even more urgent—for pregnant workers and all workers alike.

This is not the first time Amazon has been made aware of these violations and it’s hard to imagine any other area of Amazon’s business where a failure of this magnitude would be allowed to continue. 

Amazon’s proxy report to shareholders stated that your committee is handling these matters in response to a shareholder resolution on warehouse working conditions. Now it’s time to make those words real.

We’re calling on you, woman to woman, to meet with these workers and ensure Amazon’s policies are brought into compliance with the law.

The time to act is now.

Sincerely,
Lily Tomlin
Sally Field
Pamela Adlon
Chelsea Handler
Rosario Dawson
Cynthia Nixon
Jane Fonda