The government is investigating Amazon’s severe weather event rules following deaths

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform launched an investigation into Amazon's labor practices after six people died in a tornado in Illinois.

The committee is looking for documents and records from Amazon in the next two weeks, according to a letter signed by four congresswomen.

According to the letter, Amazon threatened to fire employees if they left work as the tornado bore down on the area, and that delivery crews weren't allowed to call drivers back without Amazon's approval, even when there was an active tornado warning. Six people were killed when the Amazon warehouse collapsed during the storm.

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The committee is looking for an extensive amount of information from Amazon, including documents about the company's emergency preparedness requirements, the drills it carried out in Edwardsville, and logs of communications between managerial staff, employees, or contractors.

Lawmakers want documentation on Amazon's internal reviews and investigations into the events in Edwardsville, as well as information on any discipline employees and contractors faced in Illinois and other locations. The documents need to be produced by April 14th.

Some of the information requests pertain to Amazon staff being told to keep working during wildfires in California, extreme heatwaves in Washington and Oregon, and hurricanes in 2017:

This isn't the first investigation into Amazon's warehouse practices. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened its own investigation after two groups of lawmakers sent letters demanding answers.

One of Amazon's spokespeople told The New York Times that the company's focus continues to be on supporting employees and families who have lost loved ones. We will respond in due course.