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TechAmazon

Amazon Employee Attempts Suicide After Sending Email to Colleagues

By
Madeline Farber
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By
Madeline Farber
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November 29, 2016, 3:12 PM ET
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Photograph by John MacDougall—AFP/Getty Images

An Amazon employee jumped from a building at the company’s Seattle headquarters after reportedly sending a disgruntled email to CEO Jeff Bezos and hundreds of his co-workers.

The man, whose name is currently not public, survived the 12-story fall. He was critically injured and taken to a local hospital shortly after, Bloomberg first reported. Police reported the incident as a suicide attempt.

Prior to the incident, the man requested for a transfer to a different department within the company, Bloomberg reports. Instead, however, he was placed on an “employee improvement plan”—a step that could result in his termination from Amazon (AMZN) if his performance didn’t improve, notes Bloomberg.

 

In the email, the man reportedly criticized the company’s handling of his transfer request and “hinted that he might harm himself,” a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

“Our thoughts are with our colleague as he continues to recover,” an Amazon spokesperson told Fortune in a statement, who declined to comment on the matter further. “He’s receiving some of the best care possible and we will be there to support him throughout the recovery process.”

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By Madeline Farber
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