Amazon employees accuse employer of retaliatory HR meetings after testifying on data center moratorium

Three Amazon software engineers based in Seattle allege that Amazon initiated retaliatory HR investigations against them after they testified at city council hearings in support of a data center moratorium. Patrick Schloesser, Darius Irani, and Liesl Wigand were each called into impromptu meetings with Amazon’s Employee Relations on June 10, one week after testifying and one day after the council passed a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers.

The engineers, who are members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ), say they were questioned about their testimony and told their actions could lead to disciplinary measures, including termination. Schloesser described feeling targeted during a meeting held with little notice while he was preparing for a separate work presentation. He said the HR representative asked about his whereabouts and what he had said at the hearing, creating what he described as a ‘foreboding sense’ that the interaction was punitive.

The employees filed a legal complaint with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights on June 18, alleging Amazon violated a Seattle law that bars employment discrimination based on political speech. They assert that their testimony was protected activity and that the subsequent HR meetings constitute retaliation. Schloesser stated, ‘I am unwilling to accept a reality in which Amazon or any corporation can silence me in exercising my rights.’

Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan responded that employees are free to discuss their working environment but must follow internal procedures when speaking as representatives of the company. She said the company is investigating possible violations of its corporate communications policy and may take action based on findings. Callahan denied that Amazon had plans to terminate the employees or told them they were at risk of termination, calling such claims inaccurate.

The controversy follows Seattle’s June 9 enactment of a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data centers, which pauses new proposals while the council studies potential impacts on land use, public health, water use, jobs, utility rates, and city infrastructure. Five Amazon employees, including the three involved in the HR meetings, attended earlier city council hearings in support of the moratorium and the broader regulatory effort.