A $56 Million Verdict Against Amazon, and What It Means If a Delivery Van Hit You

By: Brandon Calton, Esq.

A jury in Middlesex Superior Court awarded $56 million to a 78-year-old retired realtor named Malcolm Carnwath in Carnwath v. Amazon Logistics Inc, et al on July 22, 2026, as reported by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

In November 2024, an Amazon delivery van driver fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the center line, and hit Mr. Carnwath's car. He went into cardiac arrest and suffered a series of strokes that left him with a permanent brain injury. His left leg was amputated below the knee. He had twelve major surgeries, spent about six months in the hospital, and will need care around the clock for the rest of his life. He was represented by Marc L. Breakstone and J. Tucker Merrigan of Boston.

What makes the case worth writing about isn't the number. It's the argument Amazon made for two years and then abandoned five days before trial.

Amazon Doesn't Employ Most of its Drivers

The van had Amazon's name on it. The driver wore an Amazon vest and delivered Amazon packages to Amazon customers. But, Amazon argued, he was not an Amazon employee. He worked for a separate company that contracts with Amazon, one of the businesses Amazon calls Delivery Service Partners. In this case that company was Agora Logistics LLC of Boxford.

That technicality is the point of the structure. If the driver works for someone else, the argument goes, the losses belong to someone else too – and to a smaller insurance policy. Amazon spent the entire discovery period in this case arguing exactly that.

Then, five days before the trial was set to start, it stopped. Amazon signed a stipulation accepting responsibility for the delivery company and its driver, which left the jury with nothing to decide except how much Mr. Carnwath had lost.

Why Amazon’s Argument Fell Apart

Because the paper trail didn't support it. Amazon assigns

the routes. It sets the delivery quotas. It writes an operations manual the delivery companies are required to follow. And the vans carry telematics – equipment that reports a driver's speed, location, fuel use, and driving habits back to Amazon as it happens.

None of that is secret or exotic. It is the ordinary machinery of the business, and all of it is obtainable in a lawsuit. A company that decides where a driver goes, how fast he has to work, and how he is monitored while he does it has a hard time telling a jury it had nothing to do with him.

What This Means For You

If a delivery van, box truck, or contractor's vehicle hit you, do not assume the driver's employer is the only company on the hook, and do not assume the first insurance policy you hear about is the only one. These arrangements are governed by contracts and tracked by data, and both can be obtained – but only by someone who knows to ask, and only while the records still exist. Telematics data in particular is often overwritten on a schedule measured in weeks.

If you've been injured by an Amazon (or other) commercial vehicle, please call the Law Offices of Samuel A. Segal at 617-383-3542 as soon as possible for a free consultation. Delays can result in claims being denied.