Two truck drivers and their families will now pursue a lawsuit against Amazon after incidents involving poor signage at an Indiana warehouse that led to severe injury and death. 

Both truckers were attempting to make deliveries to an Amazon warehouse in Hancock County, Indiana, but were confused about where they needed to go due to lack of signage, reported Fox 59. Both drivers parked in the turn lane in the center of the road and got out to walk up to the facility for directions.

In the September 2022 case involving truck driver Mahari Oukbu, Oukbu attempted to cross 300 North on foot when he was hit by a passing car. The force of the collision threw him 30 feet, leaving him with many broken bones and other catastrophic injuries. 

“Still to this day he does not work,” said Attorney Brandon Yosha. “He cannot work. He cannot drive a truck. His wife is still taking care of him. In fact, his wife is still helping him bathe.”

In the October 2022 case involving truck driver Harvail Dhillon, he was also attempting to cross 300 North on foot to get directions after parking in the turn lane when he was hit by a passing tanker truck. The force of the collision caused a gruesome scene where Dhillon died. 

Yosha, who is representing both Oukbu and the family of Dhillon, says that Amazon put up signs directing truckers where to go the day after Dhillon died in the road. 

Before that, “Amazon did nothing to make their conditions on their premises safer and more clear for these truck drivers as to where they needed to enter,” he says. “Amazon and its employees knew on Sept. 2, yet from September 2 to Oct. 20, Amazon did nothing… This one sign alone at the entrance where Harvail was would’ve saved his life.”

A Hamilton County judge initially dismissed the lawsuit after Amazon argued that the crashes did not technically occur on their property, so the company cannot be held liable. Yosha then appealed the case in the Indiana Court of Appeals. In that court, the judges unanimously reversed the initial decision. The drivers and their families are now free to pursue a lawsuit against Amazon. 

“We have two individuals that were simple folks, and they’re going up against the biggest corporation in the world,” Yosha said. “It’s going to be a battle.”

Yosha says they will soon begin the discovery process for the case, and believes that they will uncover even more truck drivers injured on the same road for the same reason.