Amazon Sued Over Delivery Van Crash, Citing Undue Pressure On Drivers

The lawsuit cites Amazon's 8 month employee turnover rate as evidence of its culpability. 

This may be a significant development in holding ecommerce companies liable for their workforce management policies. JL 

Samira Sadeque reports in The Guardian:

A North Carolina motorcyclist is suing Amazon for $100m after a collision with a delivery driver resulted in the amputation of his left leg. The man says Amazon’s pressure on its employees rendered the driver distracted and caused the crash. The driver admitted after the crash that he had his eyes on directions on his GPS, provided by Amazon. “The unrealistic expectations that are put on the drivers are fueling these negligence cases. The driver was so entranced in making his delivery that he did not see our client.”

A North Carolina motorcyclist is suing Amazon for $100m after a collision with a delivery driver resulted in the amputation of his left leg. The man says Amazon’s pressure on its employees rendered the driver distracted and caused the crash.

The accident happened in October when motorcyclist Justin Hartley was hit by a Hertz truck with an Amazon logo in Virginia Beach.

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According to the lawsuit, the driver, Christopher Gill, admitted after the crash that he had his eyes on directions on his GPS, provided by Amazon, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

The accident left Hartley gravely injured: it fractured his left wrist and he had to have his left knee amputated.

“The unrealistic expectations that are put on the drivers are fueling these negligence cases,” said Kevin Biniazan, the attorney representing Hartley. “The driver was so entranced in making his delivery that he did not see our client.”

 

Biniazan said the accident was “preventable”, and the lawsuit places the blame on the Amazon itself, deepening allegations of harsh working conditions for Amazon workers that have dogged the company for years.

Delivery drivers have shared horror stories, including working 14-hour shifts and having to urinate in plastic bottles instead of going to the bathroom due to the intense demands of the job.

Recently, Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse won the chance to vote for a union a second time, after Amazon was found guilty of violating labor law during the first election.

According to Hartley’s lawsuit, drivers are made to use a “Flex”, app, which dictates which directions the drivers should take and when to take bathroom or lunch breaks.

If the driver is running behind, they are given reminders that they are “behind the rabbit” and have to be “rescued”. If a driver is “behind the rabbit” or requires “rescue” often enough, it can negatively affect their pay.

The nature of this app can create “foreseeable risk that Amazon drivers will be distracted while operating their vehicles, resulting in a hazardous condition,” the lawsuit claimed, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

Amazon has denied all allegations, saying in a statement to the Associated Press that the lawsuit failed to “implicate a legal or contractual responsibility owed on behalf of Amazon”.

The company also denied Gill had committed “any act of negligence”.

Gill responded to the lawsuit by denying that he initially admitted to authorities that he had been looking at the GPS, according to the Virginian Pilot. The paper also reported his lawyers plan to argue that the accident was the result of Hartley being “contributorily negligent” and “assum[ing] the risk of his actions and fail[ing] to mitigate his damages”.