Amazon Has Said It Will Fire Workers Who Do This

Amazon has warned two employees that they would be fired if they continue to speak out on its environmental policies.

A company spokesperson said employees are “encouraged to work within their teams” and can suggest “improvements to how we operate through those internal channels.”

In a statement posted to Twitter on Thursday, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said that several employees were contacted by legal and human resources representatives. The employees were in violation of the company’s external communications policy.

Two employees were told their roles would be terminated if they continued to speak out about Amazon’s business, a spokesperson for the group said to CNBC.

One of the employees that was threatened to be terminated is Maren Costa, a user experience designer. Costa said: “This is not the time to shoot the messengers. This is not the time to silence those who are speaking out.”

Another employee threatened was Jamie Kowalski, a software development engineer, according to The Washington Post. Kowalski and Costa said they received letters from one of Amazon’s lawyers after speaking out publicly in October, the Post reported.

The employee group has said that Amazon changed its policy in September and that the updated policy “requires employees to seek prior approval to speak about Amazon in any public forum while identified as an employee.”
Jaci Anderson, an Amazon spokesperson, said the company’s communications policy isn’t new.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) have not been compensated for this article.