Amazon Says Washington State Injury Case Has Been Dismissed

A case alleging that Amazon.com Inc. exposed warehouse workers to injuries has been dismissed for lack of evidence, the company said in a statement Thursday.

The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries cited the e-commerce giant for setting rapid productivity targets that risked hurting employees working at multiple company facilities.

Amazon appealed the citations, which put the matter before the state Bureau of Industrial Insurance Appeals. Judge Stephen Pfeifer, who adjudicated a yearlong hearing, issued a ruling this week. The ruling won’t be released to the public until next week because the state agency is reviewing it and redacting non-public information.

Amazon, which received an unredacted version of the ruling since it’s one of the parties involved, said the judge determined the state lacked sufficient evidence to support its allegations that the pace of work in Amazon warehouses is hazardous.

“We appreciate that the court took a close look at the facts about how we prioritize employees’ health and safety, recognized the progress we’ve made, and vacated all the citations at the heart of this case,” Amazon said in an emailed statement. “The judge’s decision reinforces what we’ve said all along: There’s nothing more important than our employees’ health and safety.”

Department of Labor and Industries spokesperson Matt Ross said the agency plans to appeal the decision. “Our investigation showed that Amazon did not protect their workers,” Ross said. “We disagree both with the judge’s characterization of the facts and interpretation of the law.

The state’s case was based on investigations that began in 2021. Investigators spent three days observing more than 50 Amazon workers performing 12 tasks and found hazards in nearly every one. Employees surveyed by the inspectors said pushing through pain was the norm, with some 40% saying they’d experienced it in the previous seven days. Of those, two-thirds said they took medication to ease symptoms.

Based on the investigation, the labor department alleged 10-hour shifts with mandatory overtime and a rapid work pace put workers at risk of hurting their backs, shoulders, wrists and knees.

The ruling is a major victory for Amazon, which for years has been defending the safety of its warehouses in the face of growing government scrutiny. Federal regulators in 2022 cited Amazon for exposing workers to a range of musculoskeletal maladies and for failing to provide adequate medical treatment, which Amazon appealed.

California, New York, Minnesota and several other states have passed or are considering new laws crafted to help prevent industry productivity quotas from interfering with legally required meal and rest breaks. The California Department of Industrial Relations issued two citations against Amazon in May, alleging the company violated the new law that took effect in 2022.

Top photo: A worker sorts merchandise at an Amazon fulfillment center.