A former housekeeper for Jeff Bezos has sued the billionaire Amazon founder for alleged racial discrimination and “unsafe” working conditions, according to court papers.
The former housekeeper, Mercedes Wedaa, alleged that she and other staffers were denied easy access to bathrooms in Bezos’ Seattle-area mansion when the Amazon mogul was in town — and therefore frequently developed urinary tract infections.
“When the Bezos family was home, the housekeepers were not permitted to access the home, unless to perform a cleaning assignment,” reads the suit filed in Washington state court on Tuesday.
“For about 18 months, in order to use a bathroom, Plaintiff and other housekeepers were forced to climb out the laundry room window to the outside then run along the path to the mechanical room, through the mechanical room and downstairs to a bathroom,” Wedaa’s suit adds.
Wedaa worked in Bezos’ house starting in 2019 and into 2021. She was eventually promoted to lead housekeeper and took orders from Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, according to the suit.
When the Bezos family was “in residence,” Wedaa and other housekeepers were often required to work 10- to 14-hour days without legally required rest or meal breaks, the suit alleges.
In the suit, Wedaa contrasted her alleged experience in Bezos’ household with her time working for late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. She said that Allen provided regular rest and lunch breaks in a dedicated staff quarters, as well as readily accessible bathrooms.
“Mr. Allen even provided food for the housekeepers and other employees,” the suit adds.
Harry Korrell, an attorney for Bezos, wrote in an email to The Post: “We have investigated the claims, and they lack merit.”
“Ms. Wedaa made over six figures annually and was the lead housekeeper,” Korrell added. “She was responsible for her own break and meal times, and there were several bathrooms and breakrooms available to her and other staff. The evidence will show that Ms. Wedaa was terminated for performance reasons. She initially demanded over $9M, and when the company refused, she decided to file this suit.”
Wedaa also alleged in the suit that other household staffers discriminated and retaliated against her because she is Hispanic. She is seeking financial damages.
“Given their backgrounds, the suggestion that Mr. Bezos, Ms. Sanchez, or Northwestern LLC discriminated against Ms. Wedaa based on her race or national origin is absurd,” Korrell said in response to the racial discrimination claims.
Bezos’ father was a Cuban immigrant, while Sanchez is Latina.
Wedaa’s attorney, Patrick Leo McGuigan, said in a statement to The Post: “No employer is above the law, not even Jeff Bezos and the organizations he uses to locate people to work for him at his home and other properties.”
“Federal and state labor and employment laws dictate that working people must be paid for the work they perform and that they must be able to perform their work in a discrimination free, safe, sanitary, and healthy workplace,” McGuigan added. “These laws were violated by the Defendants in this case.”
Bezos has owned his mansion on a five-acre waterfront lot in the exclusive Seattle suburb of Medina, Washington, since the late 1990s. The house was worth an estimated $70 million in 2017 following extensive renovations and expansions, the Seattle Times reported.
In addition to Bezos, the suit names two entities — Zefram LLC and Northwestern LLC. Bezos uses the LLCs to manage his properties and investments, according to tech site GeekWire, which first reported the news.