Amazon To Close Dangerous And Unsafe Shakopee Warehouse

Amazon announced that they will close their Shakopee fulfillment center at the end of March, putting an end to a warehouse with a history of employee injuries.

While it may be seen as a move that will prevent future injuries, the closure will put roughly 680 Minnesotans out of a job. Amazon announced that all impacted employees will be able to transfer to a different location, including one of the 10 warehouses across the city, but even transferring to a new location will be a logistical nightmare for hundreds of employees who worked at the Shakopee plant.

In a notice filed with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Amazon stated that the closure was fueled by an expiration of the facility’s current lease, but others believe that there may have been an ulterior motive. Most notably, Minneapolis’s Awood Center, an East African economic and political empowerment nonprofit, said in a statement that it believes the decision to close the facility is both “wrong and retaliatory.” They believe that the Shakopee center was closed in part because of their vocal efforts for better working conditions.

High Injury Rates At Shakopee Fulfillment Center

As we detailed in a previous blog that highlighted the high rates of injury at Amazon warehouses in Minnesota, employee safety was a major concern at the Shakopee distribution center. As we reported in that blog, no industry in Minnesota had a higher average injury rate than the Shakopee fulfillment center in 2020.

Those injury rates led lawmakers and employees to push for safer working conditions, but rather than implement them at their Shakopee warehouse and continue to employ hundreds of Minnesotans, Amazon elected to close the facility.

“Amazon strongly opposed the warehouse safety bill last session, and it is now on the verge of passing,” read a statement from the Awood Center. “We stand with Amazon workers and will continue to support their fight for better working conditions.”

The Awood Center petitioned Amazon to keep the facility open and make improvements to worker safety, but those pleas fell on deaf ears. Hopefully Amazon follows through on their promise to help any and all employees find a new position at a different warehouse if they so choose, but this will clearly send a ripple effect through the Shakopee community. We hope that the safety measures that are close to being passed are enacted at the other 10 distribution facilities across the Twin Cities.

If you or someone you know has been injured in an Amazon warehouse or while delivering packages for the company, know that you have legal options. Reach out to Dean and the team at Margolis Law Firm to see if you have a valid injury claim. For more information, or to talk to a lawyer about your case, give Dean a call today at (952) 230-2700.