SEATTLE — Amazon is investigating three of its engineers who testified before the Seattle City Council in support of stricter regulations on AI data centers, prompting a civil rights complaint from the employees alleging retaliation.
The engineers, members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, spoke at council hearings earlier this month ahead of the city's unanimous vote on June 9 to impose a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data centers. Five Amazon employees testified in total, calling for greater oversight on energy use, environmental impacts and labor protections.
Three of the employees — Patrick Schloesser, Darius Irani and Liesl Wigand — were called separately into meetings with human resources last week and informed they were under internal investigation, according to a complaint filed with Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights. The probe relates to concerns that they may have represented themselves as speaking on behalf of the company.
“It’s a totally ridiculous claim,” Schloesser said. “It’s patently absurd.”
Amazon confirmed it is reviewing the matter but has not provided further details. The company has previously stated that employees must follow procedures when speaking publicly and that it supports open dialogue while maintaining policies on external representations.
The Seattle moratorium aims to allow time for studying the effects of data centers on land use, power consumption, water resources and infrastructure. Proponents cited concerns over the rapid expansion of AI-related facilities, which require significant electricity and cooling resources. Critics of the pause have pointed to economic benefits and job creation.
The engineers’ testimony highlighted what they described as the environmental costs of unchecked data center growth amid the AI boom. The group filed the civil rights complaint, accusing Amazon of violating a Seattle ordinance that protects employees from discrimination based on political beliefs.
Amazon has faced similar scrutiny in the past regarding employee activism on climate and workplace issues. The company operates extensive data center infrastructure through Amazon Web Services to support its cloud and AI services.
As of Saturday, the internal investigations were ongoing, and no disciplinary actions had been publicly announced. The civil rights complaint remains under review by city officials. Details on the potential outcomes for the employees or any broader company response were not immediately available.
