Amazon...closed its warehouses after it was ordered to stop deliveries of non-essential goods by a French court that ruled it had ignored its obligation to protect the security and health of its employees during the coronavirus pandemic...Amazon announced the closure of all its French centres for at least 5 days during which employees would be paid their full salaries...The company has 6 warehouses in France employing 10,000 people and the EU head of operations, Roy Perticucci, stepped down...following the court ruling. 

Amazon France’s biggest trade union, SUD, took the online retail giant to court, alleging that workers were being forced to work in close proximity in contravention of social-distancing measures...French finance minister Bruno Le Maire accused Amazon of putting unacceptable pressure on employees after unions claimed the e-giant was refusing to pay staff who did not go into to work for fear of coronavirus contagion...hundreds of employees walked out of several Amazon processing centres in France, exercising the “right to withdraw labour” in France’s labour code...Amazon said it was “perplexed” by the ruling as it had given the court evidence about temperature checks, physical distancing orders and the use of personal protective equipment. The company said the closure would affect “millions of clients who use our services to have products delivered to their homes during this confinement period” as well as "employees and small and medium sized businesses" that use the company...