Court in France rejects Amazon’s appeal over ruling to limit deliveries during Coronavirus crisis

Court in France rejects Amazon’s appeal over ruling to limit deliveries during Coronavirus crisis

THE Court of Appeal in Versailles said have ruled Amazon must restrict deliveries in France to IT products, health items, food and pet food, adding that for every delivery not meeting this requirement they would face a €100,000 penalty.

The Coronavirus pandemic has sparked a surge in online orders from people under lockdown, but also fuelled protests by Amazon workers over its sanitary protocols.

In France, these protests spiralled into a legal battle, highlighting how companies may struggle to keep going while protecting their workers, just as firms across Europe need to figure out how to let staff safely return to offices and factories once restrictions are lifted.

The battle has added to losses for some French businesses that were still able to sell and ship through Amazon.

A French court handed unions a first victory last week after it told Amazon to restrict shipments to only food, hygiene and medical products while it improved its health measures. This followed complaints the warehouses were too crowded and still processing

Amazon, which had already said it would prioritise some products during the outbreak, though not to such an extreme, shut its warehouses, arguing the ruling was too vague and it could not risk a fine.