Amazon.com, Inc. is the largest worldwide Internet retailer in terms of its revenue and market capital. Founder Jeff Bezos was named the wealthiest person in the world by Forbes magazine in March 2018. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos then became the “wealthiest person in modern history” when his net worth was valued at $150 billion in July 2018.
Amazon operates a number of fulfillment centers that employ thousands of workers, both in North America and across the globe. Employees at Amazon fulfillment centers sort and pack orders, unpack and inspect goods, and perform a number of other warehouse functions. Recently, however, the nonprofit worker advocacy group, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), listed Amazon atop its list of its “Dirty Dozen 2018,” a list of employers who put workers and communities at risk.
If you or a loved one has suffered severe or even life-threatening injuries in an accident at an Amazon facility anywhere in Kentucky, it is in your best interest to seek legal representation. An experienced attorney will be able to help you fight for all of the compensation you are entitled to.
The Paul Baker Law Office represents clients in Barbourville and surrounding areas of Kentucky. Call us or fill out an online contact form to have our lawyers review your case and help you understand all of your legal options during a free consultation.
Amazon Warehouses in Kentucky
In February 2017, USA Today reported that Amazon committed to investing $1.49 billion in creating 2,700 jobs at a worldwide cargo hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron. In February 2018, the company announced it had purchased another 210 acres to build the first Amazon air cargo hub near the same location.
Amazon currently has eleven fulfillment center locations in Kentucky:
- CVG1
1155 Worldwide Blvd.
Hebron, KY 41048 - CVG2
1600 Worldwide Blvd.
Hebron, KY 41048 - CVG3
3680 Langley Dr.
Hebron, KY 41048 - LEX1
1850 Mercer Rd.
Lexington, KY 40511 - LEX2
172 Trade St.
Lexington, KY 40511 - SDF1
1105 S. Columbia Ave.
Campbellsville, KY 42718 - SDF2
4360 Robards Ln.
Louisville, KY 40218 - SDF4
376 Zappos.com Blvd.
Shepherdsville, KY 40165 - SDF6
271 Omega Pkwy.
Shepherdsville, KY 40165 - SDF7
300 Omicron Court
Shepherdsville, KY 40165 - SDF9
100 W. Thomas P. Echols Lane
Shepherdsville, KY 40165
CVG5 and CVG7 in Hebron are sort centers, which function as a midway point between fulfillment centers and customers.
Common Warehouse Injuries
A July 2018 article in The Guardian details the story of a woman who suffered a back injury while working at an Amazon fulfillment center in Texas. According to this article, the woman injured her back counting goods on a workstation missing a brush guard, the piece of safety equipment intended to prevent products from falling onto the floor. When the woman returned to work, the workstation had yet to be repaired. She told The Guardian that it took eight months for Amazon to repair the brush guard on the workstation.
This is just one example of some of the most common kinds of injuries people may suffer in Amazon fulfillment centers. Such injuries include:
- Heavy equipment accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Falling objects
- Machine malfunctions
- Machine entanglement injuries
- Exposure to toxic chemicals
- Overexertion
- Forklift accidents
- Vehicle accidents
These and other accidents can also be fatal. National COSH reported that seven workers had been killed at Amazon facilities since 2013, including a period in 2017 in which three workers were killed within just five weeks.
During this period, according to COSH, a 28-year-old man was killed when he was run over by a truck at an Amazon warehouse in Pennsylvania. A 59-year-old man was also killed less than a week later when his head was crushed by a forklift at Amazon warehouse in Indiana. A 50-year-old woman then died from injuries sustained when she was struck by a vehicle in the parking lot of an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.
Filing for Workers’ Compensation After a Warehouse Injury
Most workers who are injured on the job in Kentucky are entitled to file workers’ compensation claims. These efforts can be very complicated when an employee files a claim for injuries while working for Amazon, however, as the company hires many workers through temp agencies.
When a person is hired through a temp agency for an Amazon job, their workers’ compensation claim must then be filed with the third party. In some cases, employees are advised not to file a workers’ compensation claims, or, their claims are dropped by workers’ compensation insurers.
In other cases, Amazon may refuse to cover workers’ compensation claims when their own doctors determine that a worker is capable of returning to work. Amazon may refuse to honor a workers’ compensation claim even when a worker’s personal physician documents an injury caused by that person’s employment at Amazon.
Do You Qualify for SSD Benefits?
When an injury is severe enough to cause a person to be unable to work for at least 12 months, that individual may be entitled to Social Security Disability (SSD) insurance benefits.
Many SSD claims are initially denied, and there is a five-month waiting period before a person can begin receiving SSD benefits. In many cases, victims must struggle to prove the true nature of their disabilities and the limitations their disabilities may impose on future employment.
Any current or previous Amazon employee who is trying to obtain SSD benefits after suffering a serious injury at a fulfillment center will want to make sure that they contact a skilled attorney. Your lawyer will be able to understand all of your appeal options if your workers’ comp or SSD claim was denied. An attorney can also assist you in filing your initial application so that all of the necessary information and medical records are included the first time.
Have you or a loved one sustained severe injuries in an accident at an Amazon warehouse in Kentucky? If so, be sure that you get help from a lawyer as quickly as possible.
The Paul Baker Law Office assists clients all over the Barbourville area with personal injury, workers’ compensation, and SSD issues. Call us or contact us online today for a complete evaluation of your case during a free consultation.
