Amazon

In July 2026, The Guardian published confidential Amazon training materials disclosed during the California Attorney General's antitrust lawsuit against the company. The documents, marked "Amazon Confidential," instruct employees not to discuss Amazon's pricing methods with vendors, not to explain the company's pricing tools, and to avoid discussing channel pricing or price matching in certain communications. Another training slide advises employees to avoid using competitor names when requesting pricing actions. The California Attorney General cites these and other internal documents as evidence in its allegations that Amazon's pricing practices reduced competition. Amazon denies the allegations, and the litigation is ongoing. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/21/amazon-tactics-prices

In 2026, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a historic $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over allegations that the company enrolled tens of millions of consumers into Amazon Prime subscriptions without their knowledge or consent and made it difficult to cancel those subscriptions. Under the settlement, Amazon agreed to pay $1.5 billion in consumer refunds, a $1 billion civil penalty, and to stop the unlawful enrollment and cancellation practices identified by the FTC. Amazon denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The FTC also established a refund program for eligible U.S. Prime customers.

Reports describe high injury rates and intense productivity pressure in Amazon warehouses, with algorithmic monitoring and strict quotas contributing to worker harm.