Amazon threatened with firing over Seattle data center limits

Amazon called three software engineers into meetings with Employee Relations on June 10, 2026, telling them the company was investigating their City Council testimony and that there could be disciplinary action up to termination. The employees, Patrick Schloesser, Darius Irani, and Liesl Wigand, say the meetings came after they spoke in favor of limits on large data centers in Seattle.

What did the employees say happened?

The three engineers say Amazon’s HR team opened impromptu meetings on June 10 and questioned them about what they said at City Council hearings, telling them the company was investigating and that discipline, including firing, was possible. Schloesser described a cold Zoom call that interrupted a design review, and said the representative alleged he had violated Amazon’s corporate communications policy; he and the other employees say they identified themselves only by role and as members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice.

They filed a legal complaint on June 18 requesting that the Seattle Office for Civil Rights investigate, alleging Seattle law prohibiting employment discrimination over political speech was violated. Irani says he had received an HR email on June 9 that created a calendar event for a confidential meeting the next day, and that the representative asked about other employees who had attended the hearings.

What was the public context for the testimony and HR contacts?

Seattle had just enacted a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers, and local hearings drew many residents concerned about noise, water usage, utility rates, and land use. The three employees were among five Amazon staff who testified at City Council hearings earlier in June in support of regulations and the moratorium. Two months before the council vote, four unknown companies had submitted proposals for five large-scale data centers inside Seattle, proposals that The Seattle Times said would have a combined maximum electricity demand equal to one-third of Seattle’s average daily use and would use 10 times more power than the city’s current number of data centers.

The three who were called into meetings are members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, which last year published an open letter signed by more than 1,000 Amazon employees urging the company to power its data centers with 100 percent additional, local renewable energy. AECJ’s counsel, Abby Lawlor of Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt, pointed to Seattle’s rare legal protection against employment discrimination for political beliefs and organizations, and AECJ spokesperson Eliza Pan called Amazon’s actions “an abuse of our democracy and rule of law.”

How has Amazon reacted and what do employees claim the meetings felt like?

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The employees say the meetings felt like attempts to intimidate them into silence: Schloesser said he felt a lack of notice and pressure to admit wrongdoing, and Irani said he left his meeting “rattled and unsure of myself” until he compared notes with the other two. Schloesser said he had long been aware of “this culture of fear” at the company, citing layoffs, performance improvement plans, and internal ranking practices.

The legal complaint asks the Seattle Office for Civil Rights to investigate and take action to remedy any unlawful discrimination. The filing follows the employees’ contention that Seattle law forbids private employers from discriminating based on political beliefs and organization membership.

Why it matters

If the Office for Civil Rights finds merit in the complaint, it would test how Seattle’s protections for employee political speech apply to high-profile tech firms and to advocacy around AI and infrastructure. The case also spotlights a broader public backlash to large data center projects, which local residents and some employees say concentrate benefits for tech companies while imposing costs on communities.

What to watch

Watch for whether the Seattle Office for Civil Rights opens a formal investigation and for any disciplinary notices Amazon issues to the employees named in the complaint. Also monitor forthcoming council work on data center legislation and how companies that proposed the five large projects respond as the moratorium and research proceed.