Amazon Being Investigated by House Oversight Committee Into Deadly Warehouse Collapse
Apr 1, 2022 By MarketDepth
The house oversight committee has launched an investigation into Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) on Friday following a deadly warehouse collapse in Illinois last year. The committee is asking the company to hand in over all information related to the incident.
Employees Told to Remain During Storm
According to a letter sent to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy from the House Oversight Committee, there are reports from 2021 that managers at the facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, told employees that they would be fired if they left work during the storm. Furthermore, the letter stated that Amazon staff within other locations were allegedly also asked to remain on the job amid the wildfire that took place in California in 2018.
“We are concerned by recent reports that Amazon may be putting the health and safety of its workers at risk, including by requiring them to work in dangerous conditions during tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather,”
The lawmakers wrote in a letter Thursday to Jassy
“We are concerned by recent reports that Amazon may be putting the health and safety of its workers at risk, including by requiring them to work in dangerous conditions during tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter Thursday to Chief Executive Andy Jassy.
Lawsuits Filed Against the Company
Additionally, the Labor Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration will also be investigating the Edwardsville facility deaths. Meanwhile, the family of one of the workers killed at that facility has also filed a lawsuit against the company.
When the lawsuit was filed back in January, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said that the lawsuit “misunderstands key facts, such as the difference between various types of severe weather and tornado alerts, as well as the condition and safety of the building.”
