Amazon facing lawsuit for Rockaway crash

A Queens couple is suing Amazon for allegedly failing to respond to insurance requests after a delivery van crash. Photo via Todd Van Hoosear/Wikimedia Commons

By Rachel Vick

A Queens woman is filing a lawsuit against Amazon for refusing to accept accountability after she was rear ended by a delivery driver earlier this fall in Rockaway.

Lucia Espinal was sitting in her parked car on Beach Channel Drive Oct. 22, when she was hit by a driver who fled the scene, video of the crash shows. The driver later admitted to his involvement in the accident.

“Amazon is pushing my family to the brink,” Espinal, whose husband Johan DeJesus has also signed on to the suit, said. “The company does not care that I have sustained serious injuries that have kept me in the hospital — they want to protect their own bottom line no matter what. All we are seeking is our rightful insurance claim and the expenses that have resulted so we can provide for our family.”

The suit filed in Kings County would compel Amazon to provide an insurance claim and cover the cost of the rental vehicle they have had to use to commute to work and bring their children to school since the crash. Espinal is also struggling with a back injury from the incident, she says.

According to Espinal’s lawyers at Leav & Steinberg, LLP, the delivery giant has refused to have insurance agents go look at the family’s car, which a surveillance video shows being bashed when the van tried to pull away from the curb into the busy road.

The unmistakable van is then caught speeding away, weaving through traffic and onto the wrong side of the road.

Attorney Edward Steinberg says the company’s refusal to quickly address the situation is an example of “horrific corporate greed” that has “been enabled by gaps in New York’s insurance law,” which legislation introduced by State Sen. Jessica Ramos seeks to address.

The bill, currently in committee, would allow a private right of action against an insurer who has refused or delayed payment of a claim.

“Amazon’s actions are nothing short of outrageous,” Steinberg said. “By refusing to provide an insurance claim, this multi-billion dollar company has cost the family thousands of dollars in expenses, which will come on top of the medical bills they will have to pay for the severe injuries sustained.”