EDWARDSVILLE – Two survivors of a tornado that killed six people in an Amazon fulfillment center on Dec. 10, 2021, joined litigation of the disaster in March.
Patricia McPhink sued Amazon and other defendants on March 15 and Joseph Brand sued Amazon and others on March 27.
Thomas Keefe III of Swansea filed McPhink’s complaint in St. Clair County circuit court, claiming she suffered serious injuries.
He stated she worked for Delivery Service Partners.
Keefe sought damages from Amazon entities and primary construction contractor Contegra.
He sought damages from contractors Tri-Star, Cassidy, and Affton Fabricating and Welding.
He also sought damages from McNealy Engineering and Quality Testing and Engineering.
Michael Blotevogel of Maryville filed Brand’s complaint in Madison County circuit court.
He identified Brand as an Illinois resident who drove for Amazon contractor Xseed Delivery.
He sought damages from Amazon, Contegra, Tri-Star, McNealy, and engineers of Gray Design.
He claimed Brand and Xseed dispatcher Kevin Dickey were standing about six feet apart and talking when a wall came down on them.
Winds at 150 miles per hour tore the roof off the fulfillment center on Dec. 10, 2021, robbing the tall concrete walls of their support.
Dickey died when the walls fell.
Blotevogel claimed Brand suffered neck and back injuries and lacerations.
He claimed Amazon told workers to attend a meeting under threat of termination.
He claimed it lasted about 20 minutes.
“The meeting further traumatized plaintiff by triggering difficult memories,” he wrote.
Blotevogel claimed Brand tried to return to work but the memories were too much to bear.
He claimed Brand lost pay, benefits, career opportunities, and future pay and benefits.
He added that Brand suffers anxiety, depression, anguish, grief, shame, embarrassment, anger, difficulty in forming relationships, and an overwhelming sense of injustice.
Both suits qualify for consolidation with suits the Illinois Supreme Court previously assigned to Madison County Circuit Judge Sarah Smith.
That order applied not only to suits from Madison County Circuit Court but also to five suits from St. Clair County Circuit Court.
Smith must decide whether to send the St. Clair County cases back there for trials.
She heard argument about it in March and took it under advisement.
A motion to set trial in December also awaits her action.
Alice McEwen, estate administrator for Clifford McEwen, filed the motion on March 21.
Her counsel Jack Casciato of Chicago wrote, “It is without question that a trial date advances discovery and serves as an aid to keep discovery on track.”
Amazon counsel Lindsay Gilmore of Belleville opposed the motion on April 10, stating fact discovery wasn’t complete and expert discovery hadn’t commenced.
She stated the current April 21 deadline for fact discovery wasn’t feasible particularly with the addition of the McPhink and Brand actions.