A federal district court granted summary judgment Friday to Amazon.com Services in a case alleging negligence, negligent undertaking, vicarious liability and premises liability at a Louisiana warehouse after a contractor suffered a medical emergency on site, according to court documents.
A maintenance technician was providing maintenance services at the warehouse when he lost consciousness and began convulsing. The worker was alone but his fall set off a door security alarm.
At the time, Amazon workers allegedly were not in their assigned positions, “leading to a delay in discovering [the] Plaintiff’s medical emergency and efforts to render aid.” The plaintiff allegedly was unattended for close to half an hour and “repeatedly struck his head and back, causing severe bodily injury,” per court filings.
The technician alleged that Amazon had “a duty of reasonable care,” which the company challenged.
“The duty element is the crux of this motion, and the parties vigorously dispute what duty, if any, Amazon owed Plaintiff,” U.S. District Court Chief Judge Shelly Dick said in the order.
Amazon said the plaintiff conflates “‘safety and security’ with emergency medical assistance” and said that a warehouse owner cannot be expected “to monitor, 24/7, every inch of a warehouse that is not open to the public, for emergency medical situations that may befall independent contractors.”
The district court agreed, stating that the medical emergency was not caused by Amazon and that the company did not discourage workers from helping the plaintiff.
“Although Louisiana courts have long-recognized that ‘there may be a strong moral and humanitarian obligation’ to inspect such alarms on the chance that someone may be experiencing an emergency requiring ‘aid and assistance,’ there is no legal responsibility to do so,” per court documents.
Neither attorneys for the plaintiff nor Amazon responded to requests for comment before press time.