{"id":22828,"date":"2024-11-27T19:30:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T19:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=802922"},"modified":"2024-11-27T19:30:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T19:30:33","slug":"lawsuit-seeks-osha-records-on-deaths-of-3-amazon-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2024\/11\/27\/lawsuit-seeks-osha-records-on-deaths-of-3-amazon-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit Seeks OSHA Records on Deaths of 3 Amazon Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/img\/social\/opengraph\/ij-social-lawsuits-1200x630.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/east\/2024\/11\/27\/802922.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/east\/2024\/11\/27\/802922.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">0 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p>A worker activist has sued the Department of Labor (DOL) to force the release of records surrounding the deaths of three workers at New Jersey Amazon workplaces in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit says DOL\u2019s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which Amazon says opened investigations into all three deaths, has not responded to a freedom of information act (FOIA) request for documents relating to the deaths of Rafael Mota Frias, Rodger Boland, and Eric Vadinsky.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-topics=\"lawsuits,workers-comp\" data-revive-companies=\"amazon\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe have questions about Amazon\u2019s working conditions and conduct that we hope to be able to answer through gaining access to these investigations,\u201d the lawsuit filed by Daniel Schlademan says. The lawsuit says obtaining the OSHA documents is \u201ccritical to inform New Jersey lawmakers in preventing further deaths of Amazon workers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schlademan is an organizer with the Online to Offline Strategy Group, an organization supporting the Warehouse Life, which advocates for better working conditions. Warehouse Life\u2019s current campaign, #ExposeAmazon, centers on Amazon\u2019s injury rate.<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey lawmakers are currently considering a heat standard bill that the lawsuit maintains might have protected workers like the three who died in 2022 if it had been in place three years ago.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/east\/2022\/08\/15\/680402.htm\">OSHA Investigating Deaths of Amazon Workers in New Jersey<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On August 14, 2024, Schlademan submitted a FOIA request seeking records concerning three OSHA investigations into Amazon\u2019s conduct at warehouses in Carteret and Monroe, New Jersey, including Inspector notes of investigations; recordings or photographs; notes of interviews, and any reports summarizing each investigation.<\/p>\n<p>He says he has not received any response from OSHA.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext-2\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"162\" data-revive-topics=\"lawsuits,workers-comp\" data-revive-companies=\"amazon\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>In the case of Mota Frias, Amazon said its own investigation attributed the death to a personal medical condition. In January 2023, OSHA issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osha.gov\/ords\/imis\/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1607847.015\">finding<\/a> that the cause of death was cardiac arrest unrelated to work. Mota Frias died at an Amazon warehouse in Carteret on July 13, 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/east\/2022\/08\/15\/680402.htm\">OSHA investigated<\/a> all three deaths and found no fault on Amazon\u2019s part. OSHA has not released findings on Boland or Vadinsky.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese were tragic incidents and it\u2019s really disappointing that some people are working to twist them into something they weren\u2019t,\u201d said Maureen Lynch Vogel, Amazon spokesperson in a statement. \u201cAs is standard in these situations, OSHA conducted thorough investigations and closed all three without citations or allegations of wrong-doing on Amazon\u2019s part, and there\u2019s no evidence that heat was a contributing factor in any of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amazon also says it has taken its own steps to address heat conditions in the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe appreciate that legislators are concerned with the safety of the community members they represent. Keeping employees safe is our top priority, too, which is why we already have a strong, industry-leading heat management program, and we\u2019ve seen the positive safety impacts of that effort,\u201d Vogel said. For example, she said the firm\u2019s warehouses are climate controlled and all Amazon-branded vehicles have air conditioning, which she said is \u201cabove industry standard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagtag\"> <span class=\"tagtag\">Topics<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/lawsuits\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Lawsuits<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/workers-comp\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Workers&#8217; Compensation<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"802922\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-yes\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! <span class=\"percent\"><\/span>% of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-more-articles\">\n<p class=\"thank-you-text\">Here are more articles you may enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-byline clearfix\">\n<div class=\"author-byline-content\">\n<h4 class=\"author-byline-name\"> <small>Written By<\/small> Andrew G. Simpson <\/h4>\n<p class=\"author-byline-bio\"> Simpson is a freelance writer and editor. He retired as Chief Content Officer for Wells Media Group in July, 2022 after 18 years with the company. <\/p>\n<div class=\"author-byline-posts\">\n<h5>Latest Posts:<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/author\/andrew-simpson\/\" class=\"author-byline-more\"> More From Author <i class=\"fas fa-caret-right\"><\/i> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe-banner subscribe-banner-in-content-2\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h4>Interested in <em>Lawsuits<\/em>?<\/h4>\n<p>Get automatic alerts for this topic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 0 Comments A worker activist has sued the Department of Labor (DOL) to force the release of records surrounding the deaths of three workers at New Jersey Amazon workplaces in 2022. The lawsuit&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[1160,1161,19,1162,1,190,1163],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/lawsuit-seeks-osha-records-on-deaths-of-3-amazon-workers.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}