Amazon employees who have been mistreated are getting some help from the ACLU.
In a letter, ACLU executive director Anthony Romero referenced a New York Times investigative report into the working conditions at Amazon. Romero noted that the article had several anecdotes that hinted at unlawful treatment of employees.
“It raised several question marks,” Romero told CNNMoney. “Amazon is one of our country’s great employers and has every right to establish whatever corporate culture suits it. However, it still has to comply with basic requirements that protect employees in every workplace.”
Romero’s letter criticized Amazon’s treatment of employees, and said that workers who have children or care for sick relatives are treated particularly poorly.
“In America today, those employees are disproportionately women,” Romero said in the ad. “The Times article also reports that Amazon does not have a single woman on its top leadership team, and that its workforce is heavily male. The metrics, as Amazon would say, are clear.”
Romero said the ad ran in the Seattle Times and on several websites, including Business Insider and Google.
Near the end of the letter, Romero made this appeal:
“Amazon employees who believe they were unlawfully penalized because of their decision to have children, or because they were caring for a sick relative or recovering from an illness of their own, can contact us at GenderEqualityAmazon@aclu.org by October 1st, 2015, to explore the possibility of legal representation.”
According to Romero, the ACLU has received several responses to its letter.
Amazon did not respond to CNNMoney’s request for comment.