Amazon in France Ordered to Deliver Only Essential Items or Face Fine

The Amazon logo in New York on Sept. 28, 2011. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

A French court ordered Amazon to deliver only essential items for the next month to protect its employees from the CCP virus.

The emergency order on Tuesday necessitates the Seattle-based retailer to evaluate health risks at its France-based facilities, The Associated Press reported.

“It is a great victory for us,” said Tatiana Campagne of the French union SUD, which filed the legal complaint against Amazon. “We feel that the health of workers was taken into account.”

The court ruled that if Amazon doesn't comply within 24 hours, the firm will face a fine of 1 million euros for each day it delays the process, CNN reported. Amazon also has to conduct an assessment "occupational risks inherent in the COVID-19 epidemic" at its facilities, according to the order.

A spokeswoman for Amazon, in a comment to the network, said the firm disagrees with the decision.

“We disagree with today's decision by the Nanterre Court of Justice and are currently assessing its implications for our French logistical sites," Amazon's spokesperson, Celine Mandouze, told CNN on Tuesday, adding that the company will appeal it.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees...over the past four weeks, we have distributed more than 127,000 packs of disinfected wipes, 27,000 laters of hand sanitizers, and more than 1.5 million masks to our sites in France," Mandouze said.

Amazon has said it has taken steps to protect its employees from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, including social distancing and cleaning.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide.