Amazon Fires Employees Who Didn’t Clock Out After Getting Buried In Rubble

EDWARDSVILLE, IL—Following last week’s deadly tornado strike on one of its warehouses, Amazon fired all employees at the facility who failed to clock out after they were buried in the rubble of the collapsing building, sources within the online retailer confirmed Tuesday. “If your time card does accurately reflect when you stopped working on that day, then you are stealing from this company, plain and simple,” said Lewis Hogan, a human resources executive at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, explaining that the workers in question continued logging hours even though they had ceased to perform their assigned tasks once the fulfillment center’s walls and ceiling tumbled down upon them. “It’s frustrating enough to lose a warehouse during the holiday rush. But it is especially disheartening to learn that as they were trapped beneath tons of twisted steel and concrete, some of our team members actually attempted to make personal phone calls to friends and family while still on company time. These employees have been terminated.” At press time, Amazon had reportedly ordered all warehouse employees who remained on the premises to leave immediately or face trespassing charges.