Amazon Employees ‘Made to Load Trucks Around Dying Colleague’

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in the US state of Oregon say they were made to keep loading trucks for over an hour after their colleague collapsed to the floor and then passed away.

The unnamed 46-year-old man died of what Amazon said was a “pre-existing medical condition” on 6 April at the distribution centre in the city of Troutdale. 

One worker, given the pseudonym Sam to protect her job, told investigative outlet the Western Edge that she was told not to help despite being CPR trained.

Sam said she watched as another colleague ran over to the collapsed man and screamed out for help as she pumped his chest. 

“I started sobbing and said, ‘I want to help, please,’” Sam told the outlet. 

But she says her supervisor replied: “It has to be management or safety team. Please get back to work.” Paramedics arrived later. 

Staff were told to continue unloading trucks for more than an hour as their colleague lay lifeless on the floor. 

On Monday, Amazon confirmed that a man died at the Oregon site and said employees at the factory had been offered “additional support” since their colleague’s passing.

Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson said three CPR-certified team members helped the man, adding that misinformation had been circulating online about the incident.    

But Sam says she received a text saying employees should arrive at work at the same time the next day. 

Some employees took to Amazon’s My Voice app to say they only found out their colleague had died on social media. 

“Truthfully, I now have even less respect for our leadership team than I did before, which I didn’t know was possible,” one wrote. “It makes me feel more ashamed to work there knowing that people can drop dead and we have to carry on knowing it doesn’t matter to the higher ups, and everyone is replaceable.”

A 2019 investigation by investigative outlet Reveal found that the Troutdale warehouse had the worst injury rate out of of 23 major Amazon centres. In 2018, a quarter of workers there had an injury on the job. Amazon said it has since worked to decrease rates of injury. 

The company, which is worth $2.67tn, has previously been accused of covering up staff injuries. In 2023, Tribune reported that Amazon workers in the UK were being instructed not to phone emergency services and instead take themselves to hospital. 

Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.