Chicago woman sues Amazon over alleged discriminatory delivery practices

CHICAGO - Amazon’s iconic two-day delivery promise is facing legal challenges.

A Chicago woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against the online retail giant, accusing it of deceiving Amazon Prime subscribers.

The lawsuit, filed by Clarkson Law Firm, claims Amazon’s much-hyped fast delivery service skips certain zip codes—mainly minority and lower-income areas—while still charging full Prime membership fees.

The suit names Taryn Trusty, a resident of South Shore, a neighborhood with the 60649 zip code. According to 2022 census data, the area is 92% Black, with 30.5% of residents living below the poverty line.

Images included in the suit show Amazon offering Prime services for $14.99 per month or $139 per year, with the expectation of speedy delivery.

However, the lawsuit claims Amazon shifts deliveries in these areas to third-party services like USPS and UPS, turning two-day shipping into frustrating waits of four days or more.

This is not the first lawsuit against Amazon. The District of Columbia filed a similar suit earlier this month.

The class-action lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Chicago, alleges discriminatory practices that affect communities across the country.

"These zip codes are in South Side of Chicago as well as other parts of the country. Compton in California is one of them. There's neighborhoods in Houston, neighborhoods in, say, Baton Rouge, other parts of the country generally, you know, predominantly minority in some instances, large Latino population in some instances, just, just a diverse non-white population. But it seems by and large that it's these neighborhoods that Amazon is excluding," said Kristen Simplicio, partner at Clarkson Law. 

Amazon has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

The suit calls for Amazon to compensate affected individuals for alleged false advertising and to improve service.