A class-action suit against Amazon may show where California courts stand on reimbursement for costs workers shouldered while working from home during the pandemic. 

Amazon is among several companies facing lawsuits over remote employees’ added expenses, such as telephone and Internet costs, office supplies, and additional energy costs. During the months of the pandemic, those expenses could have potentially reached thousands of dollars per employee.

David Williams, a senior software development engineer for Amazon, needed physical space, Internet and electricity to continue to do his job while at home, and he wants to be reimbursed. He also wants other Amazon workers from California who found themselves in similar situations to be reimbursed as well.

Amazon’s defense: The government’s stay-at-home orders caused the expenses, not Amazon. 

The court denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss the case. The court’s opinion found that,  “Amazon, a major tech company, surely knew — or at the very least, had reason to know — that its software development engineers who worked from home during the pandemic were incurring basic costs related to that work.”

Federal law only requires reimbursement for work-related expenses when those costs cause the employee’s earnings to dip below minimum wage. However, California and several other states require reimbursement for all reasonable business-related expenses. 

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out in court — and what that could mean for other remote workers who found themselves paying out-of-pocket to work at home.

If this situation sounds painfully familiar, Keller Grover can help. Our experienced employment lawyers offer free consultations to help you understand your rights, protections and options. In more than 25 years litigating fraud and employment cases, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients and class members.