Three software engineers, who work in different divisions of Amazon and all live in Seattle, believe they are being unfairly targeted for expressing their political beliefs. They filed a joint complaint with Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights on Thursday, according to the employees and filings seen by WIRED. He accused Amazon of attempting to illegally intimidate and retaliate for expressing his personal opinions outside of work about the need to regulate the environmental and social impacts of data centers.
“Seattle is one of the few jurisdictions in the country that prohibits private employers from discriminating against their employees based on their political beliefs and the organization with which they are affiliated,” says attorney Abby Lawler of Bernard Iglitzin & Lavitt, who is advising the employees. “Here, we have the legal tools to fight back and ensure that tech workers can be full democratic participants in these important local discussions. We hope the City of Seattle will do its part to ensure this important Seattle law is enforced.”
Amazon and the Seattle civil rights office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Amazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan previously told WIRED that the company respects employees’ right to express their opinions and tries to be a responsible steward in the communities where it operates.
Amazon employees went to city lectures to advocate for various regulations Seattle is considering imposing on data centers. Amazon has no existing or proposed data center in the city, but several other companies have unveiled plans for new projects.
The employees who say they are under investigation — Darius Irani, Liesel Wiegand and Schlosser — told WIRED that each of them were called separately into virtual meetings with an Amazon employee-relations employee last Wednesday. He was told the investigation could take one to two weeks and has yet to receive any updates, other than being directed to use a speaker registration form that he feels does not apply to individual comments he made. Schlosser recalls being told he could be fired as a result of the investigation.
The three workers argue that Amazon has a pattern of trying to avoid public criticism of its data centers by silencing collective action by workers, including at its warehouses, and using confidentiality agreements and other tactics to shield projects from some scrutiny. Affected employees say they have received numerous messages of support from coworkers and, except for meetings with HR, there has been no internal criticism.
In comments during the public comment period at three city meetings this month, the workers identified themselves as members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group of thousands of current and former workers at the tech giant that has long advocated for the company to better address its role in contributing to climate change.
While the employees did not say they were speaking on behalf of the company, to their knowledge they made no formal comments regarding the data center measure at issue. Two other Amazon employees who spoke at subsequent city council meetings say they did not receive notice that they were under investigation.
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