Pete Davidson reportedly finalizing a deal to join an upcoming Blue Origin flight

SNL comic Pete Davidson, who once played an astronaut on a sketch with Elon Musk, may be a passenger on an upcoming Blue Origin flight, reportedPage Six. The Jeff Bezos-owned commercial space travel company has successfully launched three crewed spaceflights over the past year. A source close to Davidson said that while he had yet to sign an official contract, details are currently being finalized. It’s unlikely the 28-year old’s desire to be launched into space at the cost of $2.5 million per minute just appeared out of nowhere. In fact, Davidson and his girlfriend Kim Kardashian dined with Jeff Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez earlier this year. According to Page Six’s source, Davidson “got on really well” with Bezos.

How much is Davidson’s journey into the edge of space going to cost? Blue Origin has been notoriously tight-lipped about the price of seats on its future flights. The winning bid in a public auction for a seat on the very first Blue Origin flight was $28 million. The winner, Justin Sun, CEO of blockchain platform Tron, later had to give up his seat because of “scheduling conflicts” (luckily he was able to reschedule the once-in-a-lifetime experience for another date). But the actual price of a seat is most likely far less. The cost of upcoming suborbital flights through Richard Branson’s commercial flight company, Virgin Galactic, is a far more frugal $400,000. Bezos has said in earlier interviews that a seat on Blue Origin’s New Shepard would likely be in the same ballpark. Given that Davidson’s net worth is estimated to be around $8 million, it’s likely this will be more appropriate for his budget range. Not all Blue Origin passengers have had to pay, so it’s possible Davidson may have secured a better deal. 

New Glenn’s next flight is scheduled for takeoff at some point in the fourth quarter of 2022. Thanks to the surge of celebrity interest in Bezo’s commercial space venture, Davidson will actually be the third SNL alum to join a Blue Origin flight. Former Blue Origin passengers William Shatner and Bezos have both hosted SNL.

Sens. Sanders and Warren urge investigation into Amazon’s ‘no-fault’ attendance policy

A group of Democratic lawmakers led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) want regulators to take a closer look at Amazon’s points-based attendance policy, which they believe may be punishing workers for taking legally protected time off. First reported by Vice, the letter to the Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission focuses on Amazon’s “no-fault” approach to absences, which adds points every time an employee misses work without giving advance notice, regardless of the reason. If workers reach a certain number of points, they are automatically reviewed for termination.

Under the company’s attendance policy, an employee whose child has suddenly fallen ill or who suffers a medical emergency would still be penalized. Employees who don’t report absences at least 16 hours before the start of shift receive two points on their record. If they give notice less than two hours before a shift, they receive two points and an “absence submission infraction”. If workers receive three absence submission infractions and eight attendance points, Amazon will consider firing them.

Lawmakers believe that Amazon’s attendance policy could violate current laws that allow workers to take sick, family, medical and pregnancy leave without advance notice. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees eligible workers unpaid leave for a variety of circumstances, including pregnancy or the need to take care of a sick family member.

“We field numerous calls from Amazon employees; while many workers know about Amazon’s punitive attendance policies, they describe never receiving information about the federal, state, and local laws that entitle them to legally protected time off—much less understanding how such laws apply in practice in their own lives,” noted labor rights group Better Balance in a letter to Congress.

Other companies with “no-fault” attendance policies have run into legal troubles in the past. Back in 2011, Verizon was ordered to pay $20 million after the EEOC found that the company’s no-fault attendance policy made no exceptions for disabled workers. 

Many warehouse workers have complained that Amazon neglected to inform them of their rights under FMLA or disability laws. The company has had a poor track record with how it treats workers at its many warehouses and fulfillment centers. A number of warehouses, in response to poor working conditions at the e-commerce giant, are currently pushing to unionize.