Housekeeper for Jeff Bezos’ Seattle-area home suing over alleged discrimination
A woman who worked as a housekeeper at Jeff Bezos’ Seattle-area home is suing Bezos, claiming that she suffered discrimination and was subject to unsafe and unsanitary work conditions.
In her complaint, Mercedes Wedaa said that she has worked as a housekeeper for wealthy, high-profile families for 18 years without ever having performance issues.
Wedaa accepted the position of lead housekeeper in September 2019 and supervised a team of five to six housekeepers by late 2021, according to the complaint.
Wedaa’s complaint claims that she worked shifts of 10-14 hours with no designated area to sit and rest, and that she and other housekeepers were only able to eat food in a 10-by-6-foot laundry room without appliances like a microwave or fridge.
The complaint also alleges that the housekeepers had “no reasonably accessible bathroom.” Housekeepers allegedly had access to a small toilet in an upstairs security room in the laundry room, but that access was eventually revoked because it was a “breach of security protocol.”
Housekeepers were not allowed to access the home while the Bezos family was present unless it was to do a cleaning assignment. According to the complaint, for about 18 months, Wedaa and other housekeepers had to climb out of the laundry room window and run to a mechanical room bathroom that was used by men, women and all grounds staff.
As a result of not being able to use the toilet regularly, the housekeepers developed frequent urinary tract infections, according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges that during the first 18 months when Wedaa was the only housekeeper on the staff, she did not receive legally required rest breaks or meal periods, even while working 10-14 hours a day. Wedaa did not know she was legally entitled to these breaks because no one ever told her to take a break.
Wedaa’s complaint also alleges that the house manager and assistant house manager treated Wedaa and the other Hispanic housekeepers “differently from Caucasian employees. Whereas Wedaa and Hispanic employees were “mocked and ridiculed,” the only white housekeeper on the staff was allegedly not treated in the same way.
