$16.2 Million Verdict Against Amazon Logistics After Delivery Van Runs Over Eight-Year-Old Boy

In 2022, a boy riding an electric bike through a subdivision northeast of Atlanta was struck and run over by a delivery van operated by a driver working for Fly Fella Logistics, one of Amazon's contract delivery service partners. The child suffered a fractured pelvis, a degloving injury requiring multiple skin grafts, and permanent scarring.

The central question at trial was whether Amazon could be held liable as an employer for Fly Fella's driver, given that Amazon classifies its delivery partners and their drivers as independent contractors. Plaintiff's counsel argued that the distinction was a legal fiction: Amazon's Mentor app monitored driver behavior in real time, dictated routes, and tracked safety metrics, giving Amazon the kind of day-to-day control over the driver's work that typically defines an employment relationship. 'Technology can have just as much control over a worker as a manager,' Michael Goldberg of Fried Goldberg LLC told jurors. Amazon also faced a separate claim of negligent training after evidence showed the company had not implemented driver safety training before the crash occurred.

The case went to trial before Judge Jaletta Smith in Gwinnett County State Court from August 12 to 15, 2024. Joseph Fried and Michael Goldberg represented the plaintiff. Defense was handled by R. Dal Burton and Jason Stewart of Wilson Elser for Amazon, and Wayne Satterfield of Hall Booth Smith for Fly Fella and its driver, Jowann Cowan.

The jury apportioned 85 percent of fault to Amazon, 10 percent to Fly Fella's driver, and 5 percent to a neighbor who was watching the child at the time. The total award came to $16.2 million, comprising roughly $16 million for pain and suffering and approximately $206,000 in past medical expenses. The parties had entered a confidential high-low agreement before trial, so the amount the plaintiff ultimately received was subject to that agreement and has not been disclosed publicly.

CVN, which recorded the trial, reported it as one of the first cases in the nation, and the first in Georgia, to go to a jury on the question of whether Amazon bears employer liability for the conduct of its delivery partners' drivers.