‘I pulled my sock down and saw blood’: drivers for Amazon in US complain of canine assaults | Amazon

The first quantity Anderson dialed was Amazon’s: she was nervous about getting penalized by the corporate’s algorithm for not ending all her deliveries. The help rep who answered really useful that she name an ambulance, however added: “I honestly cannot guarantee that you’re gonna get reimbursed.” Anderson determined to not name the ambulance. “We live in America – that’s not really a financial option. So I just held pressure on it,” she says, whereas driving the 45 minutes again to the distribution middle. There, Amazon employees helped her unload the packages, but in addition couldn’t inform her whether or not she would get reimbursed for any physician’s bills.

Typically, individuals bitten by dogs are in a position to declare employee’s compensation, which affords protections to US workers who get injured on the job. But Amazon considers its “Flex drivers”, comparable to Anderson, to be unbiased contractors, not workers – which, the corporate says, permits them to “be their own boss and create their own schedule” in the same association to drivers for Uber and Lyft. Because of this, the corporate emphasizes to drivers who’re bitten by dogs that they don’t seem to be entitled to employee’s compensation, in keeping with quite a few Flex employees who spoke to the Guardian.

“This is so unfair,” says Kenneth M Phillips, a lawyer whose follow has solely centered on canine bites for greater than 30 years. “Amazon knows that these people are bitten by dogs, because it’s happening more and more. And if these people don’t have health insurance, and the knowledge to contact an attorney, then they’re screwed.”

Ultimately, Anderson determined to not go to a close-by pressing care facility – the place the bottom charge would have been $183 earlier than the cost of checks and remedy. “Luckily, one of my best friends is a wound nurse, so she just washed it and helped me,” she says. But she might barely walk for every week afterward, forcing her to take that point off unpaid.

Shortly after she returned to work, she encountered one other canine, a giant German shepherd, which jumped on the facet of her automotive, leaving huge scratches. Anderson reported the injury to Amazon – that point, when the injury was to her automobile, somewhat than her physique, they paid her a examine to cowl it instantly. “I thought that was very interesting,” she says.

Amazon says it contacted Anderson following her first canine assault however that Anderson hadn’t submitted data for reimbursements. After the Guardian requested about her case, the corporate says it contacted her once more.

There are not any official nationwide statistics for canine bites from Amazon however the US Postal Service stories that more than 5,300 employees were attacked by dogs whereas delivering the mail final 12 months. (Amazon employees are sometimes at higher danger than these posting solely letters, who’re ready to make use of outdoors mailboxes.) Aggressive canine conduct is a typical security concern USPS workers face, and a CDC study estimated that greater than 4.5 million individuals had been bitten by dogs every year from 2001 to 2003. Increasingly, Phillips says, the victims are supply drivers.

“I’ve been getting, I’d say for the last year, a really disturbing number and a growing number of dog bite reports from Amazon delivery drivers,” says Phillips, the legal professional centered on canine circumstances. “And the circumstances that they’re describing are absolutely disgraceful. One of the worst things you can do if you own a dog is pick up the phone and order food, or get a package from Amazon, and not confine your dog.”

Mark, a 24-year-old Flex driver, was bitten by a canine whereas working in Portland over the summer season. While Amazon advises Flex drivers to not do deliveries in the event that they really feel unsafe, Mark says that there’s stress to do it anyway, as a result of any undelivered packages will have an effect on a driver’s efficiency metrics and put them liable to deactivation. “Sometimes, you can email support and tell them: ‘Hey, I didn’t feel safe delivering the package,’ but they can be unhelpful and say: ‘After further review, this hasn’t changed our decision,’” Mark says.

In July, Mark pulled as much as a home and the proprietor, who was outdoors doing yard work, waved at him. After handing the proprietor his bundle, Mark was about to re-enter his automotive when “basically out nowhere, without warning, his dog comes running out and bites me – I had no idea he was there”. Mark kicked the canine – a terrier combine – and yelled on the proprietor, who got here operating down the driveway to seize the animal. “I pulled up my pant leg and my sock down and there was blood and bite marks and it was bruised. I was kind of shocked,” Mark says. The proprietor seemed “extremely nervous, he offered me money, but honestly I just wanted to leave, and I left”.

Mark drove himself to a close-by emergency room whereas wiping the blood with one hand. Then he contacted Amazon, which suggested him to relaxation – however reminded him that if he took day off, it wouldn’t be compensated as a result of he wasn’t an worker. Amazon advised him that if there have been medical payments, he might submit documentation however that there could be no ensures they might be reimbursed. (Luckily, Mark was enrolled in Medicaid, which coated his hospital payments.)

When he bought home, he referred to as a lawyer. But the lawyer advised him there wouldn’t be a lot of a case past a potential declare towards the canine proprietor’s house owner’s insurance coverage – so Mark opted to not pursue something. “I wasn’t out to try to really screw the homeowner, because I understand that accidents happen.”

The subsequent day, he was again to work. The wound ached and it was exhausting to put on footwear and socks. “But I mean, I needed the money,” he says.

Phillips thinks the opposite lawyer shouldn’t have dissuaded Mark from making a declare: “He can bring a case against the owner of the dog based on negligence,” he says. And it’s a typical false impression that suing a canine proprietor will break their lives – offered they’re insured, “it’s not going to hurt them at all. Because the liability coverage comes from the homeowner policy or the renter’s policy, and the deductible is zero. So the only person who gets hurt is the victim.”

Beyond bloodied limbs, canine chew victims additionally endure underappreciated psychological hurt, the legal professional says. “I’ve had grown men cry on the phone because it’s almost like your world is turned upside down. All your life you thought this creature was friendly; now all of a sudden you’re looking at dogs differently. Amazon drivers are then forced to go to work under circumstances that they perceive as being unsafe, and this is extremely stressful.”

An Amazon spokesperson, Steve Kelly, says the corporate tracks information particular to canine encounters, and “our data shows we’re making progress”, although he didn’t present any numbers. “We’re also encouraging our customers to help by securing their dogs when a delivery is scheduled, so drivers can deliver packages safely,” Kelly says.

Mark, who considers himself a canine lover, says he’s “definitely more cautious around properties with dogs” now. He needs he might carry a weapon on the job, however he thinks Amazon wouldn’t permit it. (Amazon says Flex employees are free to hold canine deterrent units so long as they adjust to state and native legal guidelines.)

Anderson says she now finds herself nervous round dogs – even her personal. “My dog likes to sit right at my ankles, or herd me which way he wants me to go, and that was hard for a bit,” she says. When she delivers to a home with dogs, she tries to push by way of the concern “to just go back to how I was before”. She reminds herself that she’s working to help her daughter. And she tries to not blame the animals.

“That dog that bit me, he’s a herding dog,” she says. “And he was just doing his job, according to his world.”