Why Did An Amazon Supervisor Tell An Injured Illinois Worker To Lie?

I’ve never had an employee of mine get injured on the job and I hope it stays that way. But if I did, I can’t imagine doing anything other than telling them who our insurance carrier is and wishing them a speedy, healthy recovery.

I’m a small business and have gotten along well with the people I’ve worked with over the years. That wouldn’t change if they got hurt. Unfortunately, it’s not that way at a lot of companies and it’s definitely not that way at a particular Amazon facility.

I’ve had two injured workers from this one particular facility call me in the last few months and tell me the same thing. They were both injured on the job and both of them had a supervisor tell them that they should lie about how they got hurt and say it didn’t happen at work. When the last one refused and tried to pursue work comp they were told they aren’t allowed to.

Now why would the supervisor at the most profitable company around be worried about a couple of relatively minor work injury cases that clearly happened on the job?

The most likely answer is that he/she gets a bonus of some sort based on limiting work accidents or how few that they have. They might even put in to place some “best practice” options like rotating jobs, frequent breaks (not too many of those at Amazon from what I hear), lifting as a team, etc. The reality though is that at a fast paced job like working in a warehouse, with a lot of lifting involved, accidents and injuries are going to happen.

So pathetically this supervisor has shown their true colors in that they don’t care about their employees and only care about their bottom line and bank account. This supervisor wasn’t saying the accidents weren’t legitimate, just that they don’t want them on record. That helps them and can drastically hurt the worker. Best case scenario is the worker has to pay for things out of pocket that they shouldn’t have to. Worst case is you can’t get the medical care you need which makes your injury way worse and causes you not to be able to work.

And on top of all of that, if you lie and say you weren’t hurt at work, you lose out on your right to get TTD benefits as well as a settlement when you are all better.

We see these types of people all of the time, but this one especially bothered me given that the injuries were clearly work related and it’s such a behemoth of a company.

Bottom line is never ever lie about how you got hurt and document everything they say to you.We’ve helped hundreds of people who have been wrongfully pressured and protected them. If you want a free consultation with an attorney, please call us any time at 312-346-5578. We cover all of Illinois.