A North Carolina motorcyclist who lost his leg as a result of a collision with an Amazon delivery truck in Virginia Beach is suing the e-commerce giant, alleging that unrealistic expectations on delivery drivers led to negligence behind the wheel.
Justin Hartley was driving his 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle south on Blackwater Road in Virginia Beach on Oct. 4 when a rented Hertz truck with an Amazon logo turned directly into his lane of travel, the lawsuit said. The truck struck Hartley and he sustained severe injuries, including fractures to his left wrist and left leg. Doctors were unable to save Hartley’s left leg and had to amputate it just below the knee.
The lawsuit alleges the Amazon delivery driver, Christopher Gill of Chesapeake, admitted to authorities that at the time of the crash, he was looking down at GPS directions that were supplied by Amazon on his Amazon-supplied navigation device.
The collision was preventable, said Hartley’s attorney, Kevin Biniazan.
“The unrealistic expectations that are put on the drivers are fueling these negligence cases,” Biniazan said. “The driver was so entranced in making his delivery that he did not see our client.”
The $100 million lawsuit — filed in January against Amazon, Amazon Logistics and the driver — challenges the safety of the company’s business model, alleging that “the illegal, improper and careless acts” of the delivery driver were the direct cause of the collision.
Drivers for Amazon.com and Amazon Logistics are required to use the Amazon “Flex App,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Norfolk Circuit Court. The app, the lawsuit said, micromanages every aspect of a delivery driver’s route, including what directions to take, when to take breaks and lunches, and when to return to the station.
When a driver falls behind the desired pace during a route, the lawsuit said Amazon sends text messages stating the driver is “behind the rabbit” and needs to be “rescued” to ensure that “packages on the route are delivered in compliance with Amazon Logistics’ unrealistic and dangerous speed expectations.” A driver’s pay can be reduced if he or she falls “behind the rabbit” or require rescues too often.
“The mandated use of the Flex App while driving creates the foreseeable risk that Amazon drivers will be distracted while operating their vehicles, resulting in a hazardous condition on the roadways of the Commonwealth,” the lawsuit states.
“Our goal is to shine some light on what is really going on here and to hold Amazon and the fulfillment center accountable for these decisions,” Biniazan said. “We need to expose these unrealistic expectations on the driver that he had to drive recklessly to make his delivery.”
In responses filed in the case this month, attorneys for Amazon and the delivery driver denied the allegations of negligence.
Represented by Wilson Elser law firm, Amazon’s response denied all allegations and stated that the lawsuit failed to “implicate a legal or contractual responsibility owed on behalf of Amazon.” The response denied that the e-commerce giant is “vicariously responsible for the acts or omissions of defendant Gill,” while also denying that Gill is guilty of “any act of negligence” that caused the crash.
While Gill’s response, submitted by personal injury lawyer Scott Hartin, confirmed that he received a citation following the crash, it denied that Gill admitted to Virginia Beach police that he was looking at his Amazon supplied GPS. Gill’s response stated his defense would argue that Hartley was “contributorily negligent, assumed the risk of his actions and failed to mitigate his damages.”
Hartley had a prolonged stay at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital as a result of the crash. He has undergone surgeries on his leg and wrist and is still undergoing rehabilitation. Hartley was employed as a welder at the time of the crash and is no longer able to work. He is facing “several hundred thousand dollars of medical expenses” and the complications from the incident are ongoing, his attorneys said.
“We have a man now who is waking up every morning and cannot do what he has designed his life to do. He cannot feel like he is able to provide for his family, he cannot work to put food on the table,” Biniazan said.
This is not the first time Amazon has faced a lawsuit regarding its delivery drivers. In 2021, Bloomberg reported that Amazon was named as a defendant in at least 119 motor vehicle injury lawsuits across 35 states.
According to Iria Giuffrida, a law professor at the William & Mary Law School and visiting faculty at Raymond Mason School of Business, a crucial part of these types of lawsuits is the relationship between Amazon and the delivery driver.
“The key is establishing whether the driver was an agent of Amazon or an independent contractor, since that categorization will determine who is liable if an accident takes place,” Giuffrida said.
The degree of control that the employer exercises over the delivery person would be an important factor considered by the court, Giuffrida said.
“We know that businesses that rely heavily on fleets of vehicles are increasingly requesting drivers to use devices that are connected to the internet giving them a live minute-by-minute account of what the driver is doing,” Giuffrida said. “What the plaintiff is likely to want to prove is that the company’s ability to monitor closely and direct what drivers are doing, is as close as you can get the agent-principal relationship. And if this is proven, then the liability for the accident moves up to the principal, in this case Amazon.”
According to Giuffrida, technology is able to provide companies with intimate knowledge of delivery drivers, including when they stop for a break, when they eat and when they are stuck in traffic.
“The more technology you have, the more your finger is practically on the pulse of the driver, and the closer the relationship between the company and the driver is,” Giuffrida said.
In recent years, Amazon has opened four new facilities in the Hampton Roads area, including a career center in Chesapeake and delivery stations in Norfolk, Hampton and Suffolk.
Biniazan said a case like his client’s feels like “it could have been prevented from higher-level decisions.”
But Giuffrida said a hypothetical win by Hartley, or by plaintiffs in similar cases, is unlikely to force Amazon to scale back its reliance on technology or significantly overhaul its business model.
“Amazon’s reaction would likely be to consider strategies to manage that risk such as insurance and legal protections,” Giuffrida said. “I do not see any company scaling back on its use of technology. But a company may well seek to create ‘legal distance’ from the drivers. The more distant Amazon appears from the delivery driver, the harder it will be for a plaintiff lawyer to prove that the agency relationship exists.”
Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com
