Amazon loses appeal against closure of French FBA warehouses

[whohit]Amazon loses appeal against closure of French FBA warehouses[/whohit]On Friday, Amazon lost their appeal in France against the government’s decision to keep their FBA warehouses closed due to health and safety concerns.

A court in Paris upheld a ruling that Amazon must stop selling nonessential goods as it carries out a risk assessment on how best to protect employees from coronavirus in its distribution centers.

In a statement, Amazon said employees would continue to receive their wages, and blamed the ruling on labor unions, which brought the complaint accusing the online delivery giant of endangering the lives of workers by not instituting enough safety precautions to protect against the virus.

The company said it had instituted expanded safety measures and “do not think that this decision is in the best interest of the French.”
Under the terms of the court order, Amazon would be limited to selling goods classified as electronics, office equipment, animal care products, home improvement items, health and body care products, and groceries.
Each shipment of an unauthorized product could incur a penalty of up to €100,000 ($108,000), the court ruled.

Amazon said in its statement that under such rules, even a small amount of accidental shipments of items outside of the allowed goods could result in a penalty of more than a billion euros per week.

Amazon has faced criticism in the United States over the health and safety of workers as it faces increasing demands on its services during the pandemic. Last week, the company said it may begin firing employees who “intentionally violate” its social distancing guidelines, despite complaints from workers who say the demands of their job make it impossible to comply with the policy.