Williams v. Amazon.com Services LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

DAVID G WILLIAMS, Case No. 22-cv-01892-VC

Plaintiff,

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND

v. DENYING IN PART MOTION TO

DISMISS

AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 14 Defendants.

The motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part with leave to amend. If Williams chooses to file an amended complaint, it is due within 14 days of this order, with a response (to the original complaint or the amended one) due 14 days after that. 1. Williams has plausibly stated a claim under California Labor Code section 2802 for reimbursement of expenses he incurred while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon contends that any expenses Williams incurred were the result of government stay-at-home orders, not any action by Amazon. But even if true, that does not absolve Amazon of liability. What matters is whether Williams incurred those expenses “in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer.” Cal. Labor Code § 2802(a). According to the complaint, Amazon expected Williams to continue to work…