Amazon Wrongful Death Suit: Facility Manager Sued For 10 Reasons

JOLIET, IL -Last week, Joliet Patch brought you an exclusive story surrounding the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Linda Becker on behalf of her last husband Thomas. He collapsed and died on Jan. 23, 2017 at his overnight job, the Joliet Amazon facility. Amazon representatives waited at least 25 minutes before notifying Joliet Fire Station 3, which is only a half-mile away on Laraway Road, that Becker was showing symptoms of a heart attack at 3:50 a.m., the lawsuit states.

Then, it took the Joliet Fire emergency paramedics another 5 to 7 minutes to reach Becker because "Amazon's security personnel ... chatted at the front desk before giving those medical professionals access to Amazon's facility," the new lawsuit states.

The Joliet Fire Department was forced to walk through the vast 1.5 million-square-foot warehouse plant, starting at the front doors, "to reach the southeast corner of the facility where the shop cage and Thomas Becker lay ... even though there was a back gate in close proximity to the shop cage that would have given those medical professionals near immediate access to Thomas Becker who was by that time, clinging to life," the lawsuit states."By the time those qualified medical professionals arrived at Thomas Becker, he was no longer conscious and Thomas Becker was not breathing."

Last week's Joliet Patch article focused primarily on the negligence lawsuit allegations lodged against the company, Amazon. However, the lawsuit also named a man named Ryan Brenner as a co-defendant. Brenner was named as an individual and as an agent of Amazon.

This Patch article outlines the reasons set forth by Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol, Will County's largest law firm, why Brenner was named in the civil lawsuit. The 57-year-old heart attack victim was survived by his wife, Linda, and their three adult children, Jennifer Becker, David Thornton and Tiffany Becker.

The Will County wrongful death case lays out the following reasons why Brenner has been added to the lawsuit as a co-defendant for allegations of carelessness and negligence.

Here they are:

• "Failed to ensure that Amazon's policy of 'No Deaths' was properly implemented."
• "Failed to ensure that Amazon's facility was in fact equipped with functioning AEDs."
• "Failed to ensure that Amazon's 'first responders' were adequately trained in proper first aid techniques and use of AEDs."
• "Failed to ensure that Amazon had proper emergency response procedures that would have prevented needless delays in the response of qualified medical professionals during a medical emergency."
• "Failed to ensure that Amazon personnel actually called 911 immediately after those personnel were informed that Thomas Becker was having a medical emergency."
• "Failed to ensure that Amazon did not needlessly delay qualified medical personnel from reaching Thomas Becker in time to save his life."
• "Maintained an illusory policy of 'no deaths' that provided all persons with a false sense of security."
• "Failed to properly train and equip its own 'first responders' such that those persons could not administer adequate first aid and medical care in time of crisis."
• "Failed to ensure that AEDs were actually placed within those dedicated boxes throughout its facility."
• "Failed to ensure that Amazon had functioning AEDs within those dedicated boxes throughout its facility."

The lawsuit against Ryan Brenner further states that "One or more of the aforesaid careless and negligent acts and or omissions of the facility manager were a proximate cause of Thomas Becker's personal injuries and resulting death on January 23, 2017."

As of Monday, Jan. 28, lawyers defending Amazon and Brenner, who lives in Chicago, have not filed a formal response to the allegations raised in Linda Becker's lawsuit.

The case is scheduled for a hearing before a Will County judge on May 13.

Main image of Amazon facility in Joliet via Google Maps