An Amazon delivery driver broke into my home and I need legal advice

Seeking Legal Advice Forum
1

In May of 2024, an Amazon Delivery Driver, seeking shelter after tornado alerts, approached my home to take shelter. At home at the time were my daughter and special needs son. According to the driver, after knocking at the front door with no response, he assumed we were already sheltering in the basement. He then went over to a large window and either accidentally or purposely shattered the window.

My son, who had been in his bedroom on the second floor at this time, described hearing a loud noise downstairs. Walking downstairs to the first floor, he explained seeing a man he didn’t know punching shards of glass from a large window out of his way and then climbing through the opening. Not having the ability to understand the potential danger of this situation, my son walked into the room to talk to the man as he climbed inside the house. The Amazon driver then told my son he needed to shelter from the storm, and my son then led him into the unfinished basement of our house. Soon thereafter, my daughter came downstairs and attempted to find out what was happening. She wrote down the driver’s personal and company information.

Within the next 5 minutes, I arrived home and could see an Amazon delivery truck in front of my house. Once inside, I could see a man in an Amazon vest on his cellphone. His right arm was completely covered in blood from the elbow down. There were trails of blood running from the front of the house to the back of the first floor, and in our front room, I could see that the large 4ft by 4ft window that faced the front yard was now shattered and on the floor.

After ending his phone call with his employer, I spoke with the driver. He looked panicked and very pale, and I was concerned for his safety. I urged him to go into our bathroom and wash his arm so that we might see the extent of his injuries. After washing away the blood, I could see that he had several very deep cuts on his right forearm. Not wanting to keep him any longer than necessary, I quickly attempted to bandage his arm and give him directions to the nearest ER. I then spent the next three hours working to clean up blood and broken glass and board up the large opening in the front of my home. The next day, I met with the Police Department to give a statement about the incident.

Since everything I’ve learned, the driver was employed by a subcontractor. I’ve contacted them and sent an estimate, but they have fought me so hard wanting alternative estimates and insisting they should have their preferred contractors come look at it. The owner of the subcontractor says he’s not Amazon and I need to work with him. I don’t know what to do and feel like Amazon bears some responsibility here as well. I don’t have the money to hire a good lawyer…what should I do?!

Last thing of note: they were not even delivering to my house, just other houses in the neighborhood, but my house was closest to his truck at the time.

2

Let your insurance handle this. They have lawyers.

The majority of Amazon drivers are employed by subcontractors.

3

Zhen said:
Let your insurance handle this. They have lawyers.

The majority of Amazon drivers are employed by subcontractors.

So does that mean if Amazon is hiring subcontractors driving Amazon trucks wearing Amazon vests, that Amazon has no responsibility for those Amazon workers?

4

@Will
Correct.

5

@Will
Yup, the company that hired them is responsible, not amazon themselves. And amazon is probably charging them a licensing fee to use their name on their trucks and vests.

6

Taryn said:
@Will
Yup, the company that hired them is responsible, not amazon themselves. And amazon is probably charging them a licensing fee to use their name on their trucks and vests.

There are also delivery drivers that use their personal vehicles.

7

@Will
Yes - I work for a different subcontracted company that works adjacent to Amazon handling a portion of their operations (literally signed an NDA so I can’t elaborate much).

FedEx Ground is run the same way, as are owner-operators in trucking. The “DSP” or district service provider runs an independent company hiring drivers. This company furnishes drivers and is liable for their employees, and those employees are employees of the DSP - but the DSP is only contracted to Amazon, not employed, much in the way a painter you “hire” to paint your home is a contractor, and you would not be liable if he painted your neighbor’s house too.

It is a phenomenal way to distance liability from Amazon/FedEx/any multitude of other companies that use a similar model. The extent of Amazon’s interest in this would be a poor reflection on their “brand” - if you want a response from Amazon, it will not be culpability or liability, but you can absolutely take this to the news. Amazon may pressure the DSP to handle this more correctly.

8

@Will
That’s exactly why they do it, to keep the blame from them.

9

Eren said:
@Will
That’s exactly why they do it, to keep the blame from them.

Bear that in mind the next time you give Amazon access to your home, garage, or just assume they are safe at your front porch. Don’t trust the Amazon brand to ensure you or your family’s safety because you’re really dealing with a small mom and pop company and if they damage your home be prepared to spend months negotiating over every dollar.

10

@Will
:tada:call​:tada:your​:tada:homeowners​:tada:insurance​:tada:

You won’t be negotiating anything!

It’s one window. This will not be difficult! Just work with your insurance to get it fixed, and they will go after the responsible parties. You only need to talk to your insurance.

11

@Will
…do you really feel like this person fleeing a tornado posed a threat to your family? Why?

12

Lyle said:
@Will
…do you really feel like this person fleeing a tornado posed a threat to your family? Why?

Was there actually a tornado? Or was there an alert for a “potential” tornado? Either way, a stranger, bleeding all over my home, around a disabled person, definitely constitutes a threat to me. Any person desperate enough to break into a building is dangerous. Especially if there wasn’t an actual tornado and this dude panicked. That state he was in was very dangerous until the shock and blood loss set in. Dude wouldn’t have taken no for an answer if someone had answered the door.

13

@Will
Amazon’s track record is terrible, I’d rather go with the mom and pop company.

14

@Will
Correct, as others have said, it’s a layer they’ve employed to prevent lawsuits to the parent company directly. Amazon only in name, likely a pop-up LLC fleet.

15

@Will
It also means they have liability insurance. Don’t worry about “responsibility,” that is for insurance carriers to determine.

16

@Will
The Amazon vans are owned by a subcontractor. If the driver was using their own vehicle, they are an independent contractor. You will have to deal with the owner of the van, who employs the driver.

17

@Will
NAL. The conditions of the Joint Employment Rule in 2023 established by NLRB would allow Amazon to be liable, but it was blocked by courts. That blocking causes large corporations to be off the hook for damages caused, passing it down to the people who operate these smaller contract businesses. Essentially a “get out of jail free” card for large companies to shirk responsibilities for subcontractors operating solely under Amazon’s purview.

18

@Will
Hi! Former Amazon driver here!

Yep!

No, really. Amazon permits the DSP (Delivery Service Partner, the subcontractor) to use their branding, but the DSP actually owns the outfits, the vans, and the equipment. Amazon is just the business partner granting usage of their name, logo, and warehouse in exchange for delivery services. I guarantee the contract the DSP has states something about them absolving themselves of liability (I love indemnification clauses).

19

This might be relevant or might not be, but…was there actually a tornado or a warning? You mentioned both of your kids were upstairs on the 2nd floor when this occurred. Someone else mentioned there could be precedent for imminent danger in a situation like this.

Either way, breaking a window at a random house seems like odd behavior unless you’re literally staring down a tornado.

20

From law school, I recall that in situations like this the delivery driver might have a defense called “private necessity” due to the need to shelter in place from the hurricane—that means that he would only be liable for the damages that he caused to your property (i.e., broken window) but not for the trespass itself.

The advice given above to let your insurance company’s lawyers handle it is the best one as they will contact their corporate counterparts (at his employer not amazon since he’s a subcontractor), and if the corporation decides to do so, they will “indemnify” the driver (i.e., cover the cost of the damages since he was there in the area on their business i.e., delivering their packages—not his own personal business).

Either way, let your insurance company deal with this unless they refuse for whatever reason, then if so contact your own attorney.