Amazon decides to settle

In April 2020 Amazon fired two of its employees, Emily Cunningham and Marin Costa who worked in the user experience department. The two women were fired for being vocal in their criticism of the tech giant's climate policies and warehouse working conditions. Later Cunningham and Costa filed a wrongful termination suit against Amazon. They claimed that Amazon fired them for criticizing their employers which is a protected right under the labor laws, this Amazon was violating the labor laws. On Wednesday lawyers representing both the parties let out a statement saying that they have decided to settle. If not for the settlement, Amazon was set to undergo an investigation conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLBR). This investigation would have highlighted the strained relations between the company and some of its employees. Although the compensation amount was not revealed, Cunningham and Costa tweeted that they were "thrilled" about the agreement. Amazon has to pay them their lost wages and let out a public statement to all their employees nationwide that they cannot be fired for exercising their right to criticize. Amazon claims that Cunningham and Costa were fired for violating the company's internal communication policy and not for criticism. 

This is one of the many incidents that the United States has been witnessing in the past few days involving tech workers holding their employers accountable. Recently employees at Apple launched the #AppleToo to tell stories of workers who've experienced discrimination and harassment at the company. An artificial intelligence scientist at Google said she was fired for criticizing the treatment of minorities by the company.

(Note: the source of this news The Washington Post is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos)

Source: The Washington Post