- Amazon investigates three employees for comments made at a board meeting
- 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 board meetings discussing a one-year moratorium on planned data center construction.
Five employees, who work as engineers, criticized the “all-cost-justified AI build” that has caused data center construction projects to spread rapidly across the United States.
Since attending, three engineers have been invited to separate meetings with Amazon human resources to investigate their testimonies at the meetings, according to a complaint filed with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights.
Amazon investigates employees who criticize data center construction
In their separate meetings with HR, employees were warned that the investigation could lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
The complaint states that employees were made to feel “intimidated and insecure about their future employment.”
The complaint further stated that “Amazon was monitoring its political advocacy before the Seattle City Council and seeking to identify additional employees who had engaged in political activities.”
Under the Seattle Law, companies cannot use personal characteristics such as political ideology, race, religion, and age for discriminatory purposes against their employees.
talking 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 representatives of Amazon must follow certain procedures.
“We believe it is important to apply our policies consistently, just as we would with anyone else, we are investigating whether there was a violation of our policies and 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 believe it is critical that the government regulate data centers and AI. Workers need to be involved in these conversations.”
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