Oral arguments set for wrongful death suit filed against Amazon
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The Indiana Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Aug. 20 for a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Amazon Inc.
According to court records, Harjit Kaur is appealing the Hamilton Superior Court’s grant of a motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by Amazon, Inc., et. al, (Amazon), on a wrongful death action against Amazon.
Kaur filed suit after truck driver Harvail Singh Dhillon, who was attempting to deliver goods to Amazon, was killed by an oncoming motorist on a public highway across from Amazon’s fulfillment center west of Greenfield.
Dhillon’s estate argues that although the incident did not occur on Amazon’s premises, it had a duty to provide for Dhillon’s safety because of the dangerous condition it created by failing to provide adequate lighting and signage on its property regarding appropriate entrances.
It further argues that Amazon gratuitously assumed and breached a duty of care by its use of improper signage to direct truck drivers—like Dhillon—on where to enter the fulfillment center.
In response, Amazon maintained that it owed no duty to protect Dhillon from being struck by motorists on a public highway, and no facts were alleged that it gratuitously undertook a duty to provide for Dhillon’s safety.
Amazon pointed out that the incident did not occur on its premises, and the Estate alleged no facts that Amazon exerted any control over public property, i.e., the county road.
Oral arguments start at 2 p.m. at the Court of Appeals courtroom.
The case is Harjit Kaur v Amazon, Inc, et al., 23A-CT-2059.
The scheduled panelists are Chief Judge Robert Altice, Judge L. Mark Bailey, and Judge Paul Mathias.