wsoon@insider.com (Weilun Soon) -
© (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)A heavily damaged Amazon fulfillment center is seen Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, in Edwardsville, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Last December, a tornado tore through an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, killing six workers.
In March, House members launched an investigation into Amazon's severe weather safety practices.
But, they said, Amazon failed to comply and accused the company of "obstructing" the investigation.
Congressional Democrats have slammed Amazon, saying the company has made it difficult to investigate whether its labor practices resulted in workers' deaths after a tornado struck one of its Illinois warehouses last December.
In March, in response to the incident, House Oversight Committee members Carolyn Maloney and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri reached out to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy for information on Amazon's severe weather policies. They gave Jassy and Amazon an April 14 deadline to hand over documentation.
But weeks after the deadline, the group said they still hadn't received any documentation from Amazon. In a letter dated June 1, the Maloney, Ocasio-Cortez, and Bush reached out to Jassy again, noting that "nearly seven weeks have passed since the April 2022 deadline, yet Amazon still has not produced any of the key categories of documents identified by Committee staff."
Amazon "has failed to meaningfully comply with the Committee's requests, obstructing the Committee's investigation," the group wrote.
Amazon now has until June 8 to submit the documents. "If Amazon fails to do so, the Committee will have no choice but to consider alternative measures to obtain full compliance," the letter said.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told Bloomberg on Friday that the company was surprised by the letter because it had provided more than 1,500 pages of documents to assist in the investigation.
"As we have done from the start, we will continue to work with committee staff on further document production — which includes the most recent materials we shared on June 1," Nantel said.
Amazon did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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A tornado ripped through an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, on December 10, killing six workers. In the days following the deadly event, the workers' families, their coworkers, lawmakers, and investors questioned Amazon's decision not to evacuate workers prior to the storm. Two warehouse workers told Insider they were expected to report for work even though a tornado warning was in place.
The family of one worker filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Amazon.
In response to the lawsuit, company spokesperson Nantel told Insider: "We believe our team did the right thing as soon as a warning was issued, and they worked to move people to safety as quickly as possible."
"Severe weather watches are common in this part of the country and, while precautions are taken, are not cause for most businesses to close down," she continued.
Investigators from the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in April the online retailer met "minimal federal safety guidelines" at the warehouse. However, they added, "the company should make improvements to further protect workers and contract drivers in future emergencies."
Last month, a group of Amazon investors submitted a proposal at its annual shareholder meeting requesting that the company report on workplace safety issues at its warehouses. That motion was voted down by shareholders with only 43.7% of votes in favor, according to Amazon's May 25 SEC filing.
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