Edwardsville tornado victim’s family files lawsuit in Madison County against Amazon
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information from Monday afternoon’s press conference.
The family of one of six people killed when a tornado hit an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville last month is suing the company, claiming that officials negligently required employees and contractors to continue working instead of asking them to evacuate.
Attorneys for Alice and Randy McEwen, parents of the late Austin McEwen, 26, of Edwardsville, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Madison County Circuit Court on Monday morning.
“Sadly, it appears that Amazon placed profits first during this holiday season instead of the safety of our son and the other five (victims),” said Alice McEwen, speaking Monday afternoon at a press conference via Zoom.
Austin McEwen was an independent contractor who worked as an Amazon delivery driver. He was a graduate of McKendree University, where he played defense for the Bearcats’ hockey team.
The E-3 tornado hit the 1.1-million-square-foot Amazon warehouse on Gateway Commerce Drive, along Interstate 255, about 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2021. Winds of up to 150 miles per hour caused the concrete walls and roof to collapse.
“(Austin McEwen) was one of numerous individuals required to work during an Amazon ‘peak season’ when Amazon management knew that conditions were highly unsafe as tornado warnings had been issued,” according to a press release from Clifford Law Offices in Chicago.
“Tornado warnings had been issued for southwestern Illinois as early as Dec. 9, 2021, and were re-issued on several occasions with growing concern and intensity over the next 24 hours.”
McEwen’s family is being represented by Jack J. Casciato, a partner at Clifford Law Offices, a firm that specializes in personal-injury cases, with help from St. Louis attorney John Malec.
The lawsuit names Amazon, as well as Contegra Construction Co. in Edwardsville and TriStar Properties in St. Louis, as defendants. Contegra and TriStar built the warehouse, according to Casciato.
The lawsuit alleges that:
The Amazon warehouse had no basement shelter, despite being located in a region “prone to tornadoes.”
The company had no safety plan or adequate emergency plan required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Amazon management directed McEwen and the other five people who were killed to shelter in a bathroom.
The company “knew or should have known that this location would not protect them.”
“Initial reports from those that survived this avoidable tragedy are disturbing,” Casciato stated in the press release. “We certainly intend to discover what precautions Amazon could have taken to save lives.
“Certainly, this entire facility could have been evacuated when it was believed a tornado was en route. ... We need to find out if training and emergency protocols were in place for those in the building as well as those who entered the building with jobs regularly connected to Amazon outside of the facility.”
Amazon representatives couldn’t be reached for comment Monday afternoon. In December, Kelly Nantel, the company’s director of national media relations, told reporters that:
Amazon employees are fully trained on safety procedures and emergency preparedness.
The Edwardsville warehouse had designated areas for sheltering in place during a storm.
Managers began moving people into those areas when tornado sirens sounded shortly after 8 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2021.
Quick action by managers “helped save a lot of lives.”
The company welcomes all investigators to review what happened.
“Obviously we want to go back and look at every aspect of this,” Nantel said. “There’s always going to be tremendous learning after any type of catastrophic event like this. We want to make sure our policies, our practices are consistent with any learnings that we have from this event.”
Representatives for Contegra and TriStar couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. Their offices were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
The other five tornado victims were DeAndre Morrow, 28, of St. Louis; 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.
At Monday’s press conference, Casciato called the McEwens “brave” for being the first of the six families to file a lawsuit so they can all find out what led to the deaths of their loved ones.
Casciato hinted at the controversy surrounding Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ decision to wait 24 hours before making a statement about the Edwardsville disaster. It came after he posted photos of himself with space tourists on his New Shepard rocket.
“Mr. Bezos was able to go to space this year but hasn’t made himself available in Edwardsville to express his condolences,” Casciato said.
Attorneys Benjamin Crump and Bob Hilliard, who are nationally known for taking high-profile cases, are representing the Morrow family. They announced in December that they were meeting with families of other victims and planning to conduct an investigation.
A host of elected officials have called for a review of safety policies at Amazon warehouses, but none have yet committed to leading an investigation into possible building-code revisions.
At Monday’s press conference, Alice McEwen called Austin McEwen a “wonderful son,” who loved playing sports and traveling with his girlfriend of five years.
“We looked forward to seeing him get married, have children of his own and celebrate life’s milestones in the years to come,” Alice McEwen said. “This was all taken from us. We hope, along with the other families who lost loved ones, to get the answers we deserve.”
