Chewy Safety Citation for Worker’s Death Debated at 11th Circuit

Online pet supply retailer Chewy Inc. should be cleared of an alleged OSHA violation for a forklift operator’s death because the federal agency cited the wrong law in its citation, an attorney for the company told a federal appeals court.

The Chewy employee died from asphyxiation at an Ocala, Fla., warehouse when he became trapped between the forklift and a shelf.

During oral arguments Thursday, the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit focused on whether the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s rule for forklifts—also known as powered industrial trucks—was broad enough cover the ...