Thomas Walls

My brother-in-law, Rodger, was a beloved member of our family. Two years ago, he fell off a ladder at an Amazon facility in Robbinsville, New Jersey. What happened next was almost as devastating as the loss.

After Rodger fell, according to the federal OSHA investigation that followed, Amazon management refused to cooperate with first responders who arrived on the scene to care for Rodger. Amazon managers refused to open the facility’s emergency door, arguing the situation was not an emergency, to which first responders demanded that “the f*cking door be opened and kept open.” Even then, OSHA regulators recorded that “Amazon remained indifferent.”

Three days later, Rodger succumbed to his injuries and died in the hospital.

Unbelievably, Amazon’s representative also didn’t contact Rodger’s wife until ten days after the tragedy. I finally got through to someone at the company, and multiple Amazon representatives claimed Rodger had a “history of seizures” and that’s why he died. That was false—Rodger never had seizures. The hospital confirmed his death had nothing to do with seizures but rather that he had suffered severe brain trauma. The hospital also said that Rodger was “severely dehydrated,” undoubtedly from working in the hot warehouse.

We soon realized why Amazon was pushing the false story that Rodger had a history of seizures: Amazon didn’t want to pay workers’ compensation or even Rodger’s medical bills associated with the fall. In fact, we had to take legal action to get workers’ compensation for Rodger’s death.

There’s no reason for Amazon to treat its own employees with such cruelty when it is the richest company in the world. To Amazon, Rodger was just another number. For my sister, he was the love of her life and she misses him deeply every day.