Amazon Workers Criticise Bosses’ Response to Colleague’s Death

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 say they were told to continue unloading trucks for more than an hour as their colleague lay lifeless on the floor. But Amazon says its managers prioritised trying to help the man and sent warehouse staff home with pay for the rest of the day as soon as it was practical to do so.  

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. 

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said the company prioritised helping the man with its onsite safety team after he collapsed, rather than stopping work and evacuating the warehouse. 

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees, and our team focused on ensuring our employee received the care he needed, protecting his privacy, and ensuring the safety of everyone onsite instead of distracting from those efforts by focusing on immediately evacuating other areas of the building in those early moments,” she said.  

She added that CPR-certified team members used an automated defibrillator “until emergency medical services (EMS) arrived shortly after.” The area where the man collapsed was “cordoned off while our safety teams and EMS cared for our employee, which was their top priority.” 

She added: “Shortly after this event occurred, employees were sent home with pay for the rest of the day. When we resumed operations the following day, any employee who requested time off was given that time, and onsite grief counselors were provided to anybody who chose to come to work and needed them.” 

Correction, 21 April 2026: This article, its headline and subheading were updated to reflect additional context provided by Amazon about the incident, including the company’s argument that it prioritised helping the man who had collapsed and sent warehouse workers home with pay as soon as was practical.