Amazon Accuses US Government of Sharing Confidential Information

Amazon.com Inc. is seeking a protective order against the US government in light of accusations that federal prosecutors and OSHA are sharing confidential information with outside organizations that was obtained through proceedings related to worker safety.

The online retail giant is seeking to limit the government’s ability to share company secrets such as briefing materials for Amazon’s board of directors and budgetary strategies.

The request comes as prosecutors are demanding even more materials from the company, such as documents sent and received by Amazon’s president and chief executive officer Andy Jassy and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. According to Amazon, the company already has produced more than 120,000 non-privileged or redacted partially privileged documents, totaling more than 500,000 pages, and presented 26 witnesses for testimony.

“Recent actions by the federal government and its consultants have raised serious concerns about the safe handling of Amazon’s sensitive information and have created an unacceptable risk of prejudice to Amazon in pending litigation,” company attorneys said in a Sept. 8 motion for a protective order.

“Disclosure of this sensitive information, either directly or indirectly, to Amazon’s competitors, suppliers, or business partners—to name a few—would put Amazon at a significant competitive disadvantage,” Amazon said.

Multiple Worker Safety Cases

The case stems from parallel investigations by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration into Amazon’s worker safety programs.

OSHA alleges in six cases currently assigned to administrative law judges that Amazon failed to protect distribution center workers from musculoskeletal injuries. The US attorney simultaneously is looking into whether the company violated the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act by not fully disclosing worker injury information.

The federal agencies in 2022 subpoenaed thousands of Amazon documents and requested depositions of company officials. Amazon in December asked the US District Court for the Western District of Washington to intervene by establishing a schedule for providing the documents and witnesses that all sides would agree to.

Under the court’s direction, the agencies and Amazon reached an agreement in January.

But in its recent motion, Amazon alleged that the US attorney’s office “conceded that its consultants leaked” sensitive Amazon documents and “claimed the unlimited ability to disseminate more.”

The federal government, Amazon said, provided the documents to the Washington State Attorney General, who is prosecuting a state administrative case that also alleges Amazon endangered distribution center workers by exposing them to ergonomic hazards such as heavy lifting.

Amazon said the requested federal court order would “protect against the improper or inadvertent disclosure of this confidential information” without hindering the US government’s ability to investigate.

Amazon has requested oral arguments on the matter. A hearing date hasn’t been set.

OSHA, the US Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor, and the US attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Amazon’s accusations.

Amazon is represented by Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

The case is Amazon.com Servs. LLC v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, W.D. Wash., No. 22-01815, motion filed 9/8/23.