Online supplier to appeal against staff virus safety plan in France which sought to limit orders to food and medicine

Amazon must stop selling “non-essential” items or face a fine of €1m a day until it can come up with a safety plan to protect the health of its employees, a French court has ruled.

The ruling, which has already been suspended pending appeal, required the company to only accept orders for groceries, toiletries and medical products as part of the wider lockdown imposed in France.

The company was sued by the Sud Commerce union after the hospitalisation of an Amazon employee, virus diagnoses at several sites, and suspected infection of “dozens” more workers prompted the union to declare the company unsafe to work for.

“While the prime minister last March ordered the closure of non-essential businesses and activities bringing together more than 100 people simultaneously, due to the coronavirus epidemic, Amazon continues its activity as if nothing had happened,” a union spokesperson said alongside the lawsuit. “Despite not only the mobilisation of staff and formal notices from unions, inspection and occupational health, but also criticism from the ministers of economy and labour.”

Q&A Coronavirus: should everyone be wearing face masks? Show Hide Some countries and states have been recommending that everybody wears face masks in indoor settings where social distancing is difficult or impossible. They have been made mandatory on public transport or in shops in many countries. According to guidance from the World Health Organization, people over 60 or with health issues should wear a medical-grade mask when they are out and cannot socially distance, while all others should wear a three-layer fabric mask. The WHO guidance, announced on 5 June, is a result of research commissioned by the organisation. It is still unknown whether the wearers of masks are protected, say its experts, but the new design it advocates does give protection to other people if properly used. The WHO says masks should be made of three layers – with cotton closest to the face, followed by a polypropylene layer and then a synthetic layer that is fluid-resistant. These are no substitute for physical distancing and hand hygiene, it says, but should be worn in situations where distancing is difficult, such as on public transport and at mass demonstrations. The WHO has been reluctant to commit to recommending face coverings, firstly because the evidence on whether they offer any protection to the public is limited and – more importantly – because it was afraid it would lead to shortages of medical-grade masks for health workers. Sarah Boseley Health editor

Amazon immediately appealed against the ruling, securing a suspension of the requirements until conclusion of the appeal.

In a statement, the company said: “We disagree with today’s decision by the Nanterre court and are currently assessing its implications for our French logistics sites. We will also continue to work with all stakeholders and provide the necessary clarifications as we have done since the beginning of this unprecedented crisis.”

The bulk of the criticism of the firm, in the case, was levied at its health and safety failingsThe judges said it had “evidently failed to comply with obligations to protect the health of employees”.

The company has come under criticism worldwide for its failings, and on Tuesday admitted that one of its employees had died of Covid-19 in late March.

Dozens of Amazon warehouses have experienced clusters of infections. One, on Staten Island in New York, had at least 14 positive tests, and workers said the true figure was far higher.

The outbreaks have caused internal dissent, which Amazon has so far responded to harshly: three employees who were at the centre of internal protests have been fired, though the company denies a connection between their complaints and terminations.

What’s sold where

France and Italy

Amazon temporarily, in late March, stopped taking orders for some non-essential products in France and Italy, in a move to implement social distancing guidelines at the company’s dispatch centres in those countries. Now the company says it is “prioritising” essential products in those countries, but non-essentials continue to be available.

US

A few days before the French limits, Amazon told third-party sellers in the US that it would not let them stock non-essential items in its warehouses. The company provides a service, Fulfilled by Amazon, which entails handling shipping for independent companies, but on 18 March it limited that to only essential items sold by those firms. Last week, an investigation by the newsroom The Markup revealed that some items stretched the definition: “You could still order a bowling ball, a 10-pack of rubber chickens and a prom dress, and have them show up at your door within a week.” On Monday, Amazon lifted the non-essential ban.

UK

Amazon has not implemented an absolute ban on non-essentials in the UK but has said it will prioritise essential items. In practice, that means that Amazon Prime customers, who pay an annual fee for next-day delivery, now have to wait up to a week for items such as novelty bottle openers or garden shovels; most items through the store can be delivered by Monday if bought before the end of the previous Wednesday. The company’s dry food delivery service, Pantry, continues to offer next-day shipping, while its online supermarket, Fresh, has limited delivery slots.