They were testifying at a Seattle city council meeting.
Five members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) previously testified at Seattle city council meetings about AI data centers. Now, three of them are apparently under investigation by the company. The AECJ has filed a civil rights complaint against the company on behalf of the three engineers, according to CNBC and GeekWire, accusing Amazon of violating a Seattle law that prohibits companies from discriminating against employees based on their political ideology, race, religion and age.
The engineers spoke at Seattle city council hearings over whether to put a pause on AI data center buildouts. They reportedly urged the council to add renewable energy requirements and labor protections related to data centers to the city’s regulations. In addition, they called for the government to put a stop to the industry’s plans “to build out as much compute capacity as they can, as fast as they can, before regulations can catch up.” The Seattle city council ultimately voted in favor of passing the year-long moratorium on AI data centers for a year.
In their complaint, the engineers said Amazon called them in separately for a meeting with HR after the hearings and were told that they were being investigated over a concern about their testimonies. They were reportedly told the investigation could lead to disciplinary action and even to termination.
GeekWire says Amazon denied it told the engineers that they were at risk of being terminated over speaking at the hearings. Company spokesperson Margaret Callahan told the publications in a statement that after reviewing the engineers’ testimonies, “it became clear that they may have been speaking in their capacity as Amazonians and not as private citizens.” The company is looking into whether there truly was a violation, since Amazon doesn’t allow employees to speak as its representatives without following certain procedures. “It’s important to note that we don’t tolerate retaliatory behavior,” she added.
Amazon fired Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, two of AECJ’s original organizers, back in 2020 over criticisms of the company’s climate and labor practices. The former employees sued the company for illegal termination. Amazon settled with them in 2021 and was required to pay their back wages, as well as post a notice to all workers that it can’t fire them “for organizing and exercising their rights.”
