Three Amazon employees who testified in favor of a data center moratorium in Seattle have claimed they are facing consequences from their employer, in violation of a Seattle ordinance.. As reported by Bloomberg, the employees in question are Darius Irani, Patrick Schloesser, and Liesl Wigand, all of whom are members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ)..
An AWS data center – AWS. The three employees claim that following their public statements regarding the data center moratorium, they were called into separate virtual meetings with an HR staff member and informed that the company was investigating them.. The employees claim they were intimidated during the call, are facing scrutiny at work, and may be terminated..
Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan told Bloomberg: “As we looked more closely at how these employees represented themselves, and how their comments were received by others, it became clear that they may have been speaking in their capacity as Amazonians and not as private citizens.. “We believe it’s important to apply our policies consistently, so, just as we would with anyone else, we’re investigating whether there was a violation of our policies and may or may not take action based on what we find.”.
Lawyers for the three employees wrote to the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR) – a local government agency that enforces laws against employment discrimination – arguing that Irani, Schloesser, and Wigand were not on company time when testifying, and did not refer to their status as Amazon employees, nor reveal proprietary information.. Seattle’s city council land use and sustainability committee passed two pieces of legislation regarding data centers on June 9, one which placed a year-long freeze on data center siting for facilities with more than 20MVA of power requirements while impact studies are carried out, and Resolution 32204, which establishes a “strict policy framework” for how to handle data center proposals..
DCD has viewed the June 9 public meeting, during which numerous public speakers identified themselves as members of “Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.”. One employee who identified themself as a member of AECJ told the meeting: “I am grateful to be in a city where employees who speak out politically are legally protected against retaliation by their employers.”.
Schloesser, who similarly identified himself as a member of AECJ, said: “Last week, I took steps to be public for the first time, because I am tired of being afraid to stand up for my values. I believe the tech workers have a role to play in this moment. We want the city council members to include us in the process of developing equitable AI and data center policy.”.
Schloesser then called for those who work in tech in the room to raise their hand if they believe the council should “regulate data centers and AI for the common good.” Many did so.. Bloomberg reports that Amazon is currently investigating the situation and has yet to decide how to proceed..
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