3 Amazon workers allege retaliation for data center testimony

Three Amazon employees say the company threatened to fire them after they testified in favor of data center regulation in Seattle.

Three Amazon.com Inc. employees filed a legal complaint Thursday alleging the company violated Seattle's anti-discrimination law by interrogating them after they testified before the City Council in support of a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers.

"Amazon's attempts to intimidate our members is an unfair and discriminatory employment practice," said Eliza Pan, spokesperson for Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, in a statement. "It's an abuse of our democracy and rule of law."

The complaint, filed with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, stems from testimony the three workers — Patrick Schloesser, Darius Irani and Liesl Wigand — gave at City Council hearings earlier this month. On June 10, one day after the council unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on new data centers, each was called into an impromptu meeting with Amazon's Employee Relations team and told they faced possible termination for violating the company's corporate communications policy, according to the complaint.

The case tests Seattle's 2021 law barring employers from discriminating against workers based on political speech, one of the few such protections in the US. If the Office for Civil Rights finds merit, Amazon could face penalties including reinstatement and back pay — and the outcome could set a precedent for tech workers' rights to advocate on local policy affecting their employers.

The complaint, filed by attorney Abby Lawlor of Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt, argues that Amazon's actions violate Seattle's ordinance prohibiting employers from discriminating based on political beliefs or organizational membership. "This protection gave AECJ members confidence in speaking out before the Seattle City Council in favor of local data center and AI regulation, and it prohibits exactly what Amazon is doing now," Lawlor said in a statement.

The five Amazon employees who testified are all members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group that has pushed the company to address climate concerns. Last year, the group published an open letter signed by more than 1,000 Amazon employees urging the company to power all its data centers with 100 percent additional, local renewable energy.

Schloesser told The Verge he received a cold call over Zoom less than 30 minutes before a design review meeting where he was scheduled to present months of work. An HR representative asked about his whereabouts and what he said at the City Council meeting. "I got a foreboding sense that this is not a safe place for me," he said.

Irani said he received an email on June 9 with a calendar invite for the next day to discuss a "confidential" matter. The representative asked about other Amazon employees who attended the hearings. "I left this meeting feeling rattled and unsure of myself," he said.

The moratorium came after four unidentified companies submitted proposals for five large-scale data centers within Seattle city limits. Combined, the projects would have required maximum electricity demand equal to one-third of Seattle's average daily use — 10 times more power than the city's current data centers, according to The Seattle Times.

Nationwide, opposition to data center construction has intensified over noise, water usage and rising electricity costs. A recent poll by FM3 Research found 70 percent of California voters oppose building data centers in their communities, while 63 percent support legislation imposing environmental and consumer safeguards. In Monterey Park, California, 88 percent of voters approved a ballot initiative banning data centers outright — believed to be the first such ban in the US.

California is considering similar restrictions. Senate Bills 886 and 887, set for a hearing June 24 before the Assembly Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee, would require data centers to undergo full environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act and establish special rate structures to prevent cost shifting to residential customers.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.