Amazon worker leaps from building at Seattle campus Worker sent email to co-workers, Jeff Bezos before jumping Monday morning

This Seattle Fire Department photo shows fire officials working where the man landed after jumping from the top of the red building Monday morning. This Seattle Fire Department photo shows fire officials working where the man landed after jumping from the top of the red building Monday morning. Photo: Courtesy Seattle Fire Department Photo: Courtesy Seattle Fire Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Amazon worker leaps from building at Seattle campus 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

An Amazon employee leapt from a company building Monday morning after sending an email to hundreds of co-workers, including CEO Jeff Bezos.

A Seattle Fire Department spokesperson confirmed that a man jumped from a rooftop at an Amazon building at Ninth Avenue North and Thomas Street.

The rooftop was about four stories up -- the pedestal section of the 12-story high-rise -- but the man fell only about 20 feet to a balcony below, Lt. Harold Webb, with Seattle Fire, said.

He was taken to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Just minutes before jumping, however, the man sent an email to hundreds of other Amazon employees, including CEO Jeff Bezos, according to a Bloomberg report.

The contents of the email were not disclosed, but Bloomberg's anonymous source said the man had been put on an employee improvement plan after requesting a transfer to a different department. An employee on an improvement plan can risk termination if they don't improve.

Amazon's reputation as a tough workplace was only worsened by a New York Times story last year that painted a dark picture of working at the e-commerce giant. In response, Amazon's Jay Carney (former White House Press Secretary) was quick to paint the NYT piece as something of a hatchet job, and a Times' public editor wrote a column weighing whether the piece was fair.

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, business and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 ordanieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.