Amazon May Be Facing New Antitrust Investigation From New York AG, Report Says

E-commerce giant Amazon may be facing a new antitrust investigation from New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday. The outlet reported that James’ office may be cooperating with California’s attorney general and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on their investigations into Amazon’s market power.

California’s investigation into Amazon’s business practices was revealed in a court filing last week. The FTC interviewed small businesses on Amazon’s Marketplace platform last year to determine whether the company is abusing its power to hurt competition.

James is also reportedly investigating Amazon’s firing of Chris Smalls, a five-year employee of the company who was dismissed from his position in March after organizing a demonstration at Amazon’s Staten Island location. Smalls had called for the Staten Island warehouse to be sanitized and deep cleaned after multiple Amazon employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

An Amazon spokesperson claimed Smalls was "violating social distancing guidelines and putting the safety of others at risk.” Amazon executives also disparaged Smalls in a private meeting with CEO Jeff Bezos, designating him as “not smart or articulate.”

Bezos testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary last week and spoke out against allegations of anticompetitive behavior by the company. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., slammed Amazon’s use of data from third-party sellers on its Marketplace platform, citing a Wall Street Journal report published in April that claimed the company uses data from independent sellers to launch competing products.

“You can set the rules of the game for your competitors but not actually follow those same rules for yourself,” Jayapal said during the hearing. “Do you think that’s fair to the third-party businesses that sell on your platform?”

In response, Bezos claimed he was “familiar” with the Journal's report, and said the company has a “voluntary policy” protecting seller data from being accessed by Amazon employees.