Amazon is 'obstructing' congressional probe of Illinois warehouse tornado deaths, AOC and other House Dems say

Amazon has been accused of making it difficult to investigate whether its labor practices resulted in workers' deaths after a tornado struck one of its warehouses.

In response to the incident, members of the House Oversight Committee reached out to Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon. Jassy and Amazon were given a deadline to provide documentation.

The group didn't receive any documentation from Amazon after the deadline. In a letter dated June 1, the authors of the letter noted that "nearly seven weeks have passed since the April 2022 deadline, yet Amazon still hasn't produced any of the key categories of documents identified by Committee staff."

The group wrote that Amazon was obstructing the Committee's investigation.

The documents must be submitted by June 8. The Committee will have no choice but to consider alternative measures if Amazon doesn't comply.

The company was surprised by the letter because it had provided more than 1,500 pages of documents to assist in the investigation, according to a company spokeswoman.

"We will continue to work with committee staff on further document production, which includes the most recent materials we shared on June 1," she said.

Amazon did not reply immediately.

Six people were killed when a tornado ripped through an Amazon warehouse. The workers' families, their coworkers, and investors questioned Amazon's decision not to evacuate workers before the storm. Two warehouse workers told Insider that they were expected to show up for work despite a tornado warning.

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Amazon.

"We believe our team did the right thing as soon as a warning was issued, and they worked to move people to safety as quickly as possible," said the company's spokesman.

Most businesses are not affected by severe weather watches in this part of the country.

In April, investigators from the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that the online retailer met minimal federal safety guidelines. Improvements should be made to further protect workers and contract drivers.

A group of Amazon investors submitted a proposal at the company's annual shareholder meeting requesting that the company report on workplace safety issues. According to Amazon's May 25 SEC filing, that motion was voted down by the company's shareholders.