Editor鈥檚 note: This story was originally published by the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
Two more lawsuits have been filed against Amazon and the companies that oversaw the construction of the Amazon warehouse where six people died in a tornado in December in Edwardsville.
A was filed on behalf of Deon January, the mother of the late DeAndre Morrow, according to a news release on Tuesday from the attorneys for January.
Morrow, 28, died when the warehouse walls and roof collapsed in an EF3 tornado packing winds of up to 150 mph on Dec. 10. The building is on Gateway Commerce Drive near the intersection of Interstate 255 and Interstate 270.
was filed earlier this year on behalf of Alice and Randy McEwen, the parents of 26-year-old Austin McEwen, who died in the tornado.
The attorneys for Morrow鈥檚 family include Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney from Tallahassee, Florida, who is known nationwide for representing the family of George Floyd in its civil suit against the city of Minneapolis.
Representatives from Amazon and the other defendants could not be reached for comment Tuesday night on the Morrow lawsuit. The other defendants are Contegra Construction Co., which has offices in Edwardsville and St. Charles, Missouri; Tristar Properties of St. Louis; Stock & Associates Consulting Engineers Inc. of Chesterfield, Missouri; St. Louis-based Gray Design Group; and McNealy Engineering of St. Louis.
Along with the filed on behalf of Morrow鈥檚 mother, the attorneys said they filed a against the same defendants on behalf of four delivery drivers who worked for Amazon contractors.
The drivers are Jamarco Hickman of Godfrey, Evan Jensen of Alton, Deontae Yancey of Godfrey and Jada Williams of Glen Carbon.
This lawsuit cites counts of negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Jensen wanted to leave the warehouse before the storm hit but 鈥渨as threatened with termination鈥� if he left the warehouse, the lawsuit alleges. Williams also wanted to leave but she also was threatened with termination if she left, according to the lawsuit.
All of the lawsuits have been filed in Madison County Court.
Fire Marshal鈥檚 tornado report
Lawyers for all of the plaintiffs have cited a report by a fire marshal from St. Louis County who went to the scene on Dec. 10 to make sure it was safe for first responders to
Fire Marshal Dan Bruno of the West County EMS and Fire noted in his report that columns 鈥渁ppeared to be ripped or torn from the base.鈥� He said that the International Building Code requires columns to be 鈥渟ecured against uplift from wind loads鈥︹��
鈥淟ooking at the base of the columns more closely, I could find no weld or bolted connection at the base of any column, but only a bead of what appeared to be some sort of caulk around the column at the finished floor line,鈥� Bruno wrote.
Last week, Contegra released a four-page statement to dispute statements by an attorney for the McEwen family that Bruno鈥檚 report suggests the warehouse was not built to code.
Edwardsville鈥檚 city code requires buildings be able to withstand 90 mph winds. The engineering firm that designed the warehouse does 鈥渘ot design structures to , according to Contegra.
Contegra鈥檚 statement included the following points:
鈻� The columns were welded into metal sleeves embedded in a concrete foundation. This design is 鈥渧ery commonly applied鈥� in warehouse construction and 鈥渋s an alternative to a bolted or welded baseplate connection.鈥�
鈻� The columns were ripped from their sleeves 鈥渁s the result of tremendous tornadic wind forces.鈥�
Bruno noted in his report that, 鈥淎ny statements made in this narrative concerning the design of the structure are advisory only and will require further analysis by other professionals before any conclusions could be reached.鈥�
Lawsuit allegations
The lawsuits for Morrow鈥檚 family and the four drivers were filed by Crump and Patrick King of Alton and Robert Hilliard, Michael Richardson and Benjamin O鈥機onnor of Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLC of Corpus Christi, Texas.
鈥淎mazon had numerous warnings and opportunities to put their employees鈥� safety first, but they chose their bottom line instead,鈥� Crump said in his news release. 鈥淎s a result, six people needlessly lost their lives and many others suffered injury and mental anguish that will likely last a lifetime. Amazon required their employees to work just moments before the tornado destroyed the fulfillment center, despite their pleas to seek shelter at home with their loved ones.鈥�
While an Amazon representative couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment Tuesday, Kelly Nantel, the company鈥檚 director of national media relations, previously has made the following points:
鈻� Amazon employees are fully trained on safety procedures and emergency preparedness.
鈻� The Edwardsville warehouse had a designated area for sheltering in place during a storm. However, Nantel has said this area was not built any differently than the rest of the building and that it was not a shelter.
鈻� Managers began moving people into the designated sheltering in place area when tornado sirens sounded shortly after 8 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2021.
鈻� Quick action by managers 鈥渉elped save a lot of lives.鈥� The company welcomes all investigators to review what happened.
Crump made these arguments about Amazon in his news release about the allegations in the lawsuit:
鈻� Failed 鈥渢o timely inform individuals at the subject fulfillment center that a tornado was approaching so those individuals had adequate time to properly shelter or evacuate.鈥�
鈻� Failed 鈥渢o have a basement shelter or actual shelter.鈥�
鈻� Failed 鈥渢o implement proper safety procedures in the event of an evacuation or natural disaster and follow procedures while the natural disaster was unfolding.鈥�
鈻� Failed 鈥渢o properly monitor inclement weather prior to the tornado hitting the fulfillment center.鈥�
The four other persons who died in the tornado were Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, of Alton; Etheria S. Hebb, 34, of St. Louis; Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville; and Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle.
BND reporters Kelsey Landis and Teri Maddox contributed information for this article.
Mike Koziatek is a reporter with the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
