Amazon fined just $7,000 over Caes Gruesbeck Fort Wayne, Indiana warehouse worker death as giant e-commerce retailer claims it is addressing work related safety despite accusations that the multi billion dollar outlet has little financial incentive to make real changes.
How much is the life of an Amazon worker worth? US conglomerate, Amazon has been fined $7,000 after a 20-year-old worker died earlier this year when he hit his head trying to clear a blocked conveyor only to become trapped in the machinery and lose his life.
Caes Gruesbeck died of blunt force injuries in the workplace accident that happened on May 8 at the Amazon distribution center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, according to a September 18 safety order.
Indiana safety officials conducted an 11-week investigation into Gruesbeck’s death and found that Amazon failed to ensure a workplace ‘free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death’ and issued a serious safety citation, The Washington Post reported.
Dilemma of forcing Amazon to account
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has filed several cases against the massive e-commerce retailer, but the sheer volume of warehouses of Amazon makes it difficult to create swift action that’s strong enough to create major change in the retailer’s practice.
OSHA fines companies $12,741 for serious violations and $124,709 for repeat violations. But there are 22 states — including Indiana — who manage their own programs for health and safety — where the fines could be lower than those prescribed by the OSHA.
Since 2022, US federal authorities have complained about at least six occupational safety violations at the online retailer and imposed fines of $270,000.
Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel, who expressed condolences to the family, said the company ‘is always investing in safety,’ and said Gruesbeck’s training was up-to-date and that he was wearing the required safety equipment at the time of the accident.
‘After the tragedy, we immediately closed the facility, notified Indiana OSHA and began cooperating with their investigation,’ Vogel said.
Lack of real financial incentive to change worker environment
The $7,000 fine the company was issued with is the maximum penalty in Indiana. The low fine has raised concerns for advocates who say it doesn’t force large companies to make changes.
In Wagner, an Indiana attorney, who has been working on getting more worker-friendly laws in the state, was exasperated by the fine.
‘Seven thousand dollars for the death of a 20-year-old? What’s that going to do to Amazon?’ Wagner said. ‘There’s no real financial incentive for an employer like Amazon to change their working environment to make it more safe.’
Former federal workplace safety officials claim that Indiana has some of the most lax protections for workers in the country with even lower fines than other states.
Indiana not only caps fines for serious violations at $7,000, but also prevents families from suing for wrongful death in civil court, even though state officials argue Amazon should have done more in the death of Gruesbeck.
As of November 24, Amazon has a market cap of $1.52 trillion dollars. In one year, its market cap has increased by 53.05 percent. The e-commerce vendor last quarter made $9.88 billion in profits. Of note, Amazon is the second largest employer in the United States.
Limitations of federal safety regulators
An Indiana safety order report stated Amazon should have properly trained employees like Gruesbeck, enforced safety rules about driving elevated lifts under low clearance machinery and more clearly demarcated ‘danger zones.’
Amazon countered, saying the company moved quickly to fix the safety issues, for example, hanging signs in ‘low-clearance areas.’
Safety officials point out that Gruesbeck’s case reveals how limited federal safety regulators are at effectively handing out penalties or enforcing safety policies on giant corporations such as Amazon, the Post reported.
In September, the billion-dollar company publicly defended its safety record at a hearing in Washington state following more than a decade of complaints about workplace conditions across the country.
During the hearing, state labor regulators alleged that Amazon workers are exposed to an increased risk of ergonomic injury and musculoskeletal disorders as they awkwardly bend and twist to move goods through the warehouse.
Amazon denied the allegations and said its injury rate is improving.
How much is an Amazon warehouse worker life worth?
Citing a lack of operational change, Washington state has charged the company twice with willfully violating safety standards, citations Amazon has appealed, according to a former story in The Washington Post.
Vogel addressed Amazon’s safety record in Washington, and previously said the allegations ‘are inaccurate and don’t reflect the reality of safety at Amazon.’
‘The truth is that we’re always investing in safety and our efforts are working,’ she said at the time.
Vogel also said that ‘OSHA’s record-keeping citations confirm that there is no systemic underreporting of injuries’ at Amazon, and that the company takes ‘the safety and health of our employees very seriously.’
She continued: ‘The government’s allegations don’t reflect the reality of safety at our site,’ she said.
On the day of the accident, many of the workers on the scene were shaken, as emergency medical crews responded.
The critically injured Gruesbeck was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The facility was closed for the rest of the day.
In an email at the time, Amazon stated that Caes was working on a machine called ‘one-man-lift’ and was hit on the head by an overhead conveyance system as he tried to clear a jam on the conveyer below, resulting in his death.
Friends described Gruesbeck as ‘very smart’ and always ‘trying to help,’ who enjoyed hanging out with his friends, listening to music and playing video games.
Gruesbeck was only weeks away from his 21st birthday, according to his obituary. His mother Tracey, who lost her husband from cancer a year earlier, is now grieving the loss of her only child.
