ACLU wants to hear from Amazon employees who feel mistreated

Enough concern has been raised over the well-being of Amazon employees that the American Civil Liberties Union is stepping in.

The ACLU ran a full-page advertisement in Friday’s edition of The Seattle Times, asking for Amazon employees who believe they were penalized for having children, being ill, or caring for another to come forward.

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The decision to run the ad follows a New York Times article that described life in the major corporation as less-than-desirable.

“As the Times article makes clear … those employees are disproportionately women,” the ad reads. “The Times article also reports that Amazon does not have a single woman on its top leadership team, and that its workforce is heavily male. The metrics, as Amazon would say, are clear.”

The New York Times article raised a number of questions, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero told KIRO Radio. Though Amazon is one of “America’s great businesses,” he said the company still has rules to follow.

“Every tech company and every employer has to subscribe to certain rules of the road,” he said. “There was enough in the Times article to make us scratch our heads.”

The advertisement in the Seattle Times is an invitation to anyone who has felt wronged by the company, Romero explained. Though Amazon has “a good track record,” Romero said he has heard anecdotes and read some information about unforgiving work environments.

It’s not the first reaction to the Times article. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos responded and said the story does not reflect that of the company’s culture. He invited anyone who has felt wronged to reach out to Amazon’s human resources department.

But the ACLU is not trying to attack corporate culture. Romero understands there are employers who can be tough, there are bosses who aren’t nice. That isn’t unlawful, he explained. However, there are certain rights workers are entitled to, no matter what level they are.