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Amazon Facility Leveled





At 8:23 p.m., Dec. 10, Larry Virden was at the Edwardsville facility, the now-destroyed Amazon warehouse in southern Illinois. He texted Cherie Jones, saying “Amazon won’t let me leave until after the storm blows over.”

The tornado touched down 16 minutes later, at 8:39. 

The arithmetic is maddening. It does appear that Virden could have gotten home had he left at that time. But it doesn't appear that management was being unreasonable. They did not know precisely when or whether a tornado was going to hit their facility. But they knew the danger was high, and that if it happened it would happen soon.  

So they made the (reasonable) determination that their employees had a better chance of sheltering where they were than by taking to the roads.

RIP Larry Virden. 




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  1. HenryDecember 23, 2021 at 4:27 AM

    What does "won't let me leave" mean? Did they lock him in, as the owner of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory did? If so, then they're guilty of kidnapping or false imprisonment. Or did they merely threaten to dock him pay or fire him if he left? Whether that would have been legal would depend upon the employment contract. In any event, it should be the employee's decision whether to leave, not the employer's.

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  2. ChristopherDecember 23, 2021 at 8:28 AM

    No, they didn't lock him in, or point a gun at him, as in THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD. I gather -- and this has been confirmed by reports of other workers at the same facility -- that there was a threat of firing. If you didn't think highly of Amazon before, this won't improve your opinion. Of course before long Bezos will have warehouses in orbit, where tornadoes won't be a problem.

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