- Amazon is investigating three employees for comments made at a board meeting
- The employees spoke during a discussion about a one-year moratorium on data center construction
- Amazon said it “may or may not take action based on what we find.”
Amazon is investigating a group of employees who attended council meetings discussing a year-long moratorium on planned data center construction.
Five employees, who work as engineers, criticized the “all-cost-justifying AI deployment” that has caused data center construction to spread rapidly across the United States.
Since attending, three engineers were invited to separate meetings with Amazon human resources to examine their testimony at the meetings, according to a complaint filed with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights.
Amazon investigates employees critical of data center build-out
In their separate meetings with HR, the employees were warned that the investigation could lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
The complaint states that the employees were made to feel “intimidated and insecure about their future employment”.
The complaint further stated that “Amazon monitored their political advocacy efforts with the Seattle City Council and sought to identify additional employees who had engaged in political activities.”
Under the Seattle Law, personal characteristics such as political ideology, race, religion and age cannot be used for discriminatory purposes by companies against their employees.
speaks to CNBCAmazon spokeswoman Margaret Callahan said the employees may have been speaking as representatives of Amazon, rather than as private citizens, adding that those speaking as Amazon representatives must follow certain procedures.
“We believe it is important to apply our policies consistently, so just as we would with anyone else, we investigate whether there was a violation of our policies and we may or may not take action based on what we find,” Callahan said in a statement.
Darius Irani, one of the employees involved in the council hearings, said in a statement “All I did was testify because I think it’s critical that the government regulate data centers and AI. Workers need to be involved in these conversations.”
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