The 47-year-old’s husband and daughters are now suing Amazon, the driver, a third-party delivery company that works with Amazon and the company that leased the Ford Transit delivery van, alleging their negligence “caused … or contributed to” Masutta’s death.A B.C. widower is suing Amazon, one of its delivery service providers, a delivery driver and a fleet management company alleging their negligent actions “caused … or contributed to” his wife’s death in December 2020.
The lawsuit over Masutta’s death was filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in March on behalf of her husband, Daljit Singh Masutta, and their daughters.
Kurian had earlier parked the Ford illegally, facing traffic on that street, the suit alleges, and didn’t shift the van into park, engage its emergency brake or turn its front wheels toward the curb. He stepped out to make a delivery, the suit claims, and the unoccupied van rolled down the hill and struck a car heading southbound. The impact pushed the van into the opposite lane and then onto the sidewalk toward the Masuttas, according to the statement of claim.
Amazon’s DSP program sees it outsource last-mile deliveries across Canada. Its partners typically operate fleets of 20 to 40 delivery vans and manage a staff of 40 to 100 people, working out of a local Amazon delivery station. As the company’s Canadian distribution footprint hasover the years, increasingly adding smaller delivery stations, the DSP program has also grown.
With Masutta’s death, her husband and daughters not only lost her “guidance and companionship,” but have also suffered financial losses, according to the claim. Patro said Daljit couldn’t work for some time after the accident. With the loss of his wife, who was at the time a stay-at-home mom, he has had to take on more child-care duties and work less as a heavy-duty mechanic. “Mechanics earn a good wage. They earn an even better wage doing overtime,” said Patro.