Amazon takes Washington regulators to court over alleged safety violations

Amazon managers and employees are testifying this week in a trial that could determine how the company operates its warehouses in Washington state.

The dispute is between Amazon and the state’s Department of Labor and Industries, which says it has found numerous safety violations in warehouses in the state.

Investigators say warehouse workers are at heightened risk of injury because their jobs require repetitive motion in a tough work environment. Amazon appealed the citations, claiming it hasn’t broken the law and is improving its safety record.

"We leveraged several administrative controls around job rotation, workplace and rule training, our 'working well' program, which was a health, wellness and ergonomics program," testified Evan Shobe, a former Amazon manager, during the trial Wednesday.

Labor and Industries wants Amazon to make changes to its warehouses that it says would reduce injury risk. But Amazon says those changes would be costly and disruptive.

“We look forward to showing that L&I’s allegations are inaccurate and don’t reflect the reality of safety at Amazon," said spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel in a statement.

It’s rare for the state to bring a case over so-called ergonomics issues, but Amazon has created a unique work environment to power its e-commerce business. That’s landed the company in hot water with state and federal regulators.

The Strategic Organizing Center is a coalition of unions pushing for more government oversight of Amazon warehouses in Washington and beyond.

"We expect to see finally the details of Amazon’s failure to respond to the injury crisis, despite the company’s having people, policies and procedures to do so," said the organization's Eric Frumin during a press conference at the start of the trial. "We expect the trial to reveal the consequences of that failure on the working lives of hundreds of injured Amazon employees.”

The trial began in late July and is expected to run through September.