SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) - Amazon has lost its lawsuit that challenged how an appeal of workplace safety citations at a facility in Kent, Wash., were handled.
Seattle federal judge John Coughenour granted summary judgment for Joel Sacks, the director of the Department of Labor & Industries in Washington. Amazon was fighting the process for fighting workplace safety penalties.
Labor & Industries assessed a $60,000 penalty after a worker complaint filed in August 2021. Amazon appealed and requested a stay of abating the so-called ergonomic hazards.
But the company was found to have failed to notify employees of that appeal and their right to participate. As such, the appeal was rejected by the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals.
The company filed suit in federal court last year, arguing its due process rights were violated. Filing a certification of abatement compels employers to admit to unproven violations, Amazon said.
"(H)ere... the employer is provided a citation stating, with specificity, the violations alleged, and afforded an opportunity to challenge them and apply for a stay," Judge Coughenour wrote.
"An employer such as Plaintiff is not denied a stay because of the inadequacy of process available, but for failing to comply with the procedural requirements necessary to obtain a stay."
BIIA had told Amazon to:
-Support its stay-of-abatement request with evidence;
-Certify whether impacted employees were represented by a union; and
-Certify that it provided employees with copies of the L&I decision, the notice of appeal and a notice that employees could participate in the appeal.
It was that last requirement that Amazon failed to do. After the appeal was denied because of that, the company issues the notices to employees and asked for reconsideration. The BIIA rejected it.
That led to Amazon's now-dismissed due process lawsuit.