Amazon denies liability in fatal Tacoma crash but signs confidential settlement
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- A Tacoma motorcyclist was struck and killed by an Amazon delivery van in 2023.
- The victim’s family sued Amazon, who denied liability for third-party contract drivers.
- The lawsuit was settled for a confidential sum and dismissed on Sept. 5.
The family of a motorcyclist struck and killed by an Amazon delivery van in Tacoma has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the e-commerce giant for an undisclosed sum, court records show.
Robert Barra, 43, died 11 hours after being hit at the intersection of East McKinley Avenue and East 37th Street on Aug. 3, 2023, according to the lawsuit filed two months later in Pierce County Superior Court.
The crash occurred when the delivery van turned left so as to go onto East 37th Street from northbound McKinley Avenue, while Barra was riding south on McKinley Avenue, the lawsuit said. Barra was ejected and thrown against the van in the collision, according to the filing.
After a settlement was reached, the case was officially dismissed on Sept. 5, court records show. The settlement notice indicated that all defendants — including Amazon, a third-party delivery contractor and the van’s driver — entered into an agreement to resolve the litigation with the Barra family but it didn’t specify terms.
Karen Koehler, an attorney representing Barra’s wife, children and estate, said in an interview Tuesday that the settlement was confidential, preventing her from discussing monetary value.
“We stand by our complaint,” Koehler said.
Messages left by The News Tribune for representatives of Amazon and the other defendants were not immediately returned.
An Amazon spokesperson previously told The News Tribune that the company’s thoughts were with the Barra family, and “we extend sincere condolences to those mourning his loss.”
The case alleged that Amazon’s focus on delivery speed contributed to the crash and asserted that the company couldn’t avoid legal liability just because drivers work through third-party contractors. Those drivers wear Amazon uniforms, travel in Amazon vans, receive training at Amazon facilities and are monitored by Amazon, the complaint said.
In one court filing in May, Amazon disputed it was liable because the van’s driver, who was determined by Tacoma police to be at fault for the crash, was never an Amazon employee.
The driver, who was not charged with a crime, was an employee of Lakewood-based South Sound Final Mile, LLC — an Amazon delivery service partner that has since gone out of business, according to court records.
Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner program launched in 2018, enabling entrepreneurs to build a business delivering packages to Amazon customers from Amazon delivery stations. A September 2019 co-investigation by ProPublica and The New York Times, cited in the lawsuit, detailed how Amazon shielded itself from legal liability in crashes involving contract drivers by requiring delivery-service partners to defend, indemnify and hold Amazon harmless.
In response to that 2019 story, Amazon said it had invested tens of millions of dollars toward safety, including in technology in its vans, and required all delivery-service partners to maintain comprehensive insurance.
During the Barra litigation, Amazon was twice ordered by the court to pay plaintiff legal fees — a sum of about $84,000 — for not providing certain documents requested by plaintiff lawyers or properly preparing a designee to testify, court records show.
Barra left behind a wife and also three children, who were between the ages of 9 and 12 at the time the lawsuit was filed.
This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
