Amazon Exec ‘Snapped,’ Quit Company After Workers Were Fired For Demanding Coronavirus Protections, Social Media Reacts

A senior software engineer has resigned from Amazon after five years due to the company’s coronavirus response.

In a blog post, Tim Bray, former Vice President of Amazon Web Services, detailed how he “snapped” and felt “dismay” after the company fired workers calling for greater labor protections during the global pandemic. Friday was reportedly his last day on the job.

Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa worked for the e-commerce giant as user experience designers prior to taking the company to task for its treatment of warehouse workers. Amazon fired the two, it claimed, for “repeatedly violating internal policies.” Cunningham and Costa had also been critical of Amazon’s climate policies in the past.

“I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19,” Bray explained in his post.

Later in the post, Bray offered a list of five “descriptive phrases” that he believed summed up the firing of the two employees: “Chickenshit,” “Kill the messenger,” “Never heard of the Streisand effect,” “Designed to create a climate of fear,” and “Like painting a sign on your forehead saying ‘Either guilty, or has something to hide.’”

While Amazon has yet to comment on Bray’s fiery departure, Cunningham has praised the former VP for “doing the right thing” and hopes his actions will inspire more people at the company to step up.

“We support every employee’s right to criticize their employer’s working conditions, but that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies,” Amazon said in a statement addressing Cunningham and Costa. “We terminated these employees for repeatedly violating internal policies.”

The company has come under fire recently for terminating numerous warehouse employees that have criticized its working conditions and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, Chris Smalls, a former worker at the Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, was fired after organizing a strike.

Meanwhile, Bray's public exit has generated many opinions on social media.