Arika Herron | IndyStar

Corrections and Clarifications: Reveal for The Center for Investigative Reporting has updated the circumstances surrounding Indiana safety inspector John Stallone’s departure from his job. The details became a matter of public dispute on Nov. 29, when Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s general counsel issued cease-and-desist letters to Reveal and the Indianapolis Star.

Stallone maintains that he resigned his job after being told that he was going to be terminated for job performance issues. Personnel records released by Indiana list his departure as a termination for failing to “successfully complete probationary period.”

Legal counsel for Reveal and IndyStar have sent separate responses to the governor’s cease and desist letters.

Gov. Eric Holcomb issued a cease and desist letter Friday to IndyStar and Reveal for the Center for Investigative Reporting in response to previously published allegations that he was involved in a state effort to absolve Amazon of responsibility in the death of a worker at one of its fulfillment centers.

The move comes after a lengthy story from Reveal reported that Amazon's relentless push to deliver packages with speed and efficiency is coming at the expense of worker safety.

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One of the allegations in Reveal’s investigation of workplace injuries at Amazon came not from an injured employee, but from an Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector investigating the death of an Indianapolis man.

The inspector's investigation found Amazon was clearly at fault in the death of Phillip Lee Terry, who was crushed by a forklift in a Plainfield warehouse. But when IOSHA informed Amazon of its findings, the inspector’s boss — a state workplace safety official for IOSHA — counseled the company on how to lessen the fine and also shift blame onto the worker, the inspector claims.

The same inspector also told Reveal that some days after the conference call with Amazon officials, he was called into Indiana Labor Commissioner Rick Ruble's office.

The governor was there, too, standing by the commissioner’s desk, according to the state safety inspector.

He recalled that Holcomb told him how much it would mean to Indiana if the state won the Amazon headquarters deal.

Then, the inspector said, the commissioner told him to back off on the Amazon case — or resign.

Reveal found that a year after Terry’s death, Indiana officials quietly signed an agreement with Amazon to delete all the safety citations and fines. The agreement said Amazon had met the requirements of an “unpreventable employee misconduct defense.”

At the time, Indianapolis was one of 20 finalists vying to be the home of Amazon's second headquarters, which came with the promise of an investment of more than $5 billion and 50,000 jobs to whichever city won the sweepstakes.

Holcomb has repeatedly denied the allegations.

“While filing a cease and desist letter is an unusual step to take, I’m compelled to do so," Holcomb said in a statement released Friday. "I will not let the false accusations about Indiana state employees and me stand, as first published by California-based Reveal and followed soon thereafter by the Indianapolis Star."

The story was based on the account of IOSHA investigator John Stallone. In a letter to Reveal from Holcomb's General Counsel Joseph Heerens, the governor's office says that Stallone is not credible and was fired for poor job performance.

Stallone told Reveal that he resigned.

IndyStar contacted the State Personnel Department about Stallone on Friday but the department did not immediately respond to the request.

Reveal previously told IndyStar it stands by its story.

The nonprofit news organization, founded in 1977, often partners with other news outlets around the country to distribute its work. It's been recognized for its investigations and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012, 2013 and 2018.

"We take all concerns about accuracy very seriously," said IndyStar Executive Editor Ronnie Ramos, in response to Holcomb's cease and desist letter. "We understand Reveal is planning a substantive response to the governor's letter."

The letter from Holcomb's general counsel said that the accusations could not only harm Holcomb's "good name and reputation," but also pose a threat to the state's "positive business climate."

Holcomb's office is calling on Reveal and IndyStar to cease and desist from publishing the articles and take immediate steps to retract them.

“There are many good, tough, and thorough reporters in the Fourth Estate who seek to educate by way of the truth," Holcomb said. "Unfortunately, when Reveal and the Indy Star worked in conjunction to publish a false story, it tarnishes journalistic integrity across the board and the public loses faith in where they get their news.”