(Source : AP ) Amazon has filed a lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries to prevent the release of certain company materials to The Washington Post, the newspaper owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The legal action, filed in King County Superior Court, seeks to block the disclosure of documents related to Project Kuiper, Amazon’s initiative to provide internet access via satellites, which the company claims contain “trade secrets” and proprietary information.
The documents in question were collected by state regulators during four on-site investigations at a Project Kuiper facility between August and October 2023. In November, The Washington Post submitted a public records request for the agency’s findings. While Amazon is not opposing the release of all documents, it is seeking to protect sensitive employee information and proprietary records that could reveal technological details about Project Kuiper.
The Department of Labor & Industries notified Amazon of the request in early January, providing the company an opportunity to review the documents and challenge their release in court. Amazon and the agency have a history of collaboration on public records requests but have also clashed over worker safety issues. In 2022, Amazon sued the agency over citations and fines, and last year, the company prevailed in a high-profile case involving allegations of unsafe warehouse conditions.
A spokesperson for the Department of Labor & Industries did not respond to requests for comment, and The Washington Post declined to comment on the lawsuit. Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994 and served as CEO until 2021, purchased The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million.
In unrelated news, Amazon announced this week that it would lay off “a small number” of employees in its communications and corporate responsibility departments, affecting dozens of corporate workers. The lawsuit highlights ongoing tensions between Amazon and regulators, as well as the company’s efforts to safeguard its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving space-based internet sector.
