ERA Joins First-Ever Equal Pay Class Action Lawsuit Against Amazon, as Case Expands to Three States and a Potential Class of 30,000+ Workers

July 19. 2026

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For Immediate Release
Jul 19, 2026

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Equal Rights Advocates has proudly joined a historic pay equity putative class action lawsuit against global retail giant Amazon as the case expands its reach across three states and stands to benefit tens of thousands of workers. 

ERA joins a co-counsel team led by longstanding ERA partner Outten & Golden, which first filed the case in 2023. Plaintiffs’ counsel also includes the law firm of Frank Freed Subit & Thomas, LLP and the Bibyan Law Group, P.C.

On June 18, ERA and co-counsel significantly expanded the allegations against Amazon to include thousands of women from New York and California. Originally a Washington-only case, ERA and co-counsel have filed a  multi-state expansion for a potential class now totaling more than 30,000 women.

“This litigation presents an important opportunity to advance workplace gender equity, ensure meaningful access to justice and hold employers accountable when women are paid less than men for their work.”

– Cassidy Clark, ERA Senior Staff Attorney

The lawsuit (Srinivas et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc.) alleges, among other things, that Amazon has a company-wide job classification practice that systemically assigns women to lower-paying “non-tech” job codes compared to their male co-workers. Despite having the same job titles, similar experience and tenure, and performing substantially similar work, men’s roles are regularly labeled “tech,” resulting in women being comparatively underpaid and given fewer career advancement opportunities.

This is the first-ever equal pay class action lawsuit against Amazon, which employs more than 1.5 million people globally.

ERA and co-counsel allege Amazon failed to comply with equal pay laws in Washington, California, and New York, and in some cases, the federal Equal Pay Act. Counsel’s investigation has discovered that Amazon’s practice of paying women less than men for doing substantially similar work is pervasive throughout its corporate workforce.

Amazon is not alone. Similar allegations have emerged against other large employers, raising broader concerns that internal job classification systems are being used to perpetuate gender- and race-based pay disparities.

Equal Rights Advocates was instrumental in the creation and passage of California’s Fair Pay Act in 2015 (and six other California pay equity laws) and supported passage of Washington’s and New York’s equal pay laws, all of which are being enforced through the lawsuit. 

Since 1974, ERA has litigated dozens of groundbreaking pay equity cases, winning millions of dollars for women workers. ERA is also founding Chair of the national Equal Pay Today coalition, working with 60+ partners across the nation to close the pay gap through policy advocacy, strategic enforcement, and movement building. ERA and Equal Pay Today have been the country’s leading forces behind 200+ wage justice laws over the past decade across the country and work closely with advocates and employers alike to implement best practices.