A California civil rights agency has filed a lawsuit against Tesla for alleged racial discrimination and harassment at its Fremont factory, according to The Wall Street Journal. "After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, DFEH found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace," said California Department of Fair Employment and Housing director Kevin Kish in a statement. 

The DFEH said Black employees were frequently exposed to racial slurs and graffiti, with one worker saying they heard such slurs 50 to 100 times per day. "Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion creating a hostile work environment," said Kish.

Tesla called the lawsuit "unfair and unproductive" in a blog released prior to the complaint being made public. "Tesla strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment and has a dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints," the company wrote. "Tesla is also the last remaining automobile manufacturer in California. The Fremont factory has a majority-minority workforce and provides the best paying jobs in the automotive industry to over 30,000 Californians." It also said that over 50 previous DFEH investigations over the last five years were closed without any findings of misconduct.

Last October, Tesla was ordered to pay $137 million in damages to a former Black worker who accused the company of turning a blind eye to discrimination and racial abuse in 2015 and 2016. Tesla disagreed with the verdict, with a spokesperson saying the company was "not perfect" at that time but has "come a long way" since then. Tesla recently moved its corporate headquarters to Texas from California, but has also said it would expand its manufacturing activities by 50 percent in California. 

Tesla has previously tussled with the state of California over COVID-19 related plant closures, and isn't the only high-profile company in the DFEH's crosshairs. The agency recently sued Activision Blizzard for alleged harassment and discrimination against female employees. 

The Department of Justice has seized approximately $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin stolen in the 2016 hack of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. At the time, the incident was the second-largest heist of its kind, with a hacker stealing 119,756 units of Bitcoin, then valued at approximately $63.7 million. On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced the seizure of more than 94,000 Bitcoins and the arrest of the duo who allegedly tried to launder the fortune.

According to the agency, husband and wife Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan obtained the cryptocurrency after a hacker breached Bitfinex’s systems and initiated more than 2,000 illegal transactions. The cryptocurrency was deposited in a digital wallet controlled by Lichtenstein. The two then allegedly spent the next five years moving more than 25,000 Bitcoins using a “complicated” laundering process that eventually saw some of the money end up in their financial accounts. Following a court order, federal agents obtained online files from Lichtenstein that included the private keys to the digital wallet that held the stolen cryptocurrency.

“Cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. “Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter the form it takes.”

The case marks the largest financial seizure in the Justice Department’s 151-year history. Before today, its largest cryptocurrency seizure involved the Silk Road dark web marketplace. In 2020, the agency recovered 69,000 Bitcoins, worth about $1 billion at the time. Lichtenstein and Morgan face up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the money laundering and conspiracy charges brought forward by the Justice Department.

In 2020, federal police used a geofence warrant to obtain location data from Google as part of an investigation into an attempted arson against a police union headquarters in Seattle, according to recently unsealed court documents posted by The Verge. The attempted arson took place on August 24th, one day after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin prompted a resurgence of racial justice protests across the US. Amid broader acts of civil disobedience in Seattle and parts of the country, two individuals threw makeshift firebombs at the rear entrance of the Seattle Police Officers Guild headquarters.

While the building itself wasn’t significantly damaged in the attack, the incident prompted a substantial police response. At one point, the FBI offered a $20,000 reward for any information related to the attempted arson. Court documents show the agency also pressed Google for information on the two suspects. The FBI used a geofence warrant to obtain location data from Android devices that were in the vicinity of the attempted arson before and after it occurred. Google complied with the request one day later.

“As with all law enforcement requests, we have a rigorous process that is designed to protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement,” a Google spokesperson told the outlet. We've reached out to the company for more information.

As The Verge points out, the fact the FBI later made a public appeal for help in the case suggests any location data obtained from Google may have not helped it get any closer to finding the two suspects.

Police use of location data is nothing new, but there’s been a substantial increase in the number of geofence warrants issued in recent years. In 2019, The New York Times found Google was fielding “as many as 180 requests” per week. More recently, the company disclosed it received 11,033 geofence requests in 2020, up from 941 in 2018. At the time, Google noted geofence warrants made up 25 percent of all data requests it received from law enforcement. What’s more, often the information of innocent bystanders is shared with police when companies like Google comply with those warrants, as was the case of a cyclist who rode by the site of a 2022 burglary in Florida and again in a protest following the death of George Floyd

Google is making it easier for domestic violence survivors to get help. As of today, people who search for domestic violence and abuse terms in the US will see a box that provides direct contact info for The National Domestic Violence Hotline's 24-hour phone (1-800-799-7233) and chat services. The move is meant to help survivors quickly get assistance, particularly when there's only a brief opportunity to safely request aid.

The hotline is available directly in English and Spanish, and through interpreters for over 200 additional languages. Representatives can also offer internet-specific advice, such as hiding your search history or creating an alternate email account.

The quick-access box is similar to those Google offers for other personal crises, and reflects a familiar goal. Google uses these boxes to provide relevant, trustworthy information that could save valuable time, and the effort will easily be worthwhile if it helps people escape dangerous domestic situations.

Peloton owes at least five of its workers money for unpaid labor, according to a BuzzFeed News report. The publication says that in recent months, a Minnesota delivery worker and a Los Angeles salesperson for the company filed lawsuits seeking class action status against it over unpaid overtime. Aside from unpaid labor, the LA salesperson, which worked at Peloton for over five years, also said he wasn't reimbursed for work expenses and wasn't paid the full wages required upon termination of employment. 

BuzzFeed also talked to three more workers who raised various kinds of pay issues. They complained about having to go back to work after clocking out and not being paid for it, having to work through breaks and not getting expense reimbursements. One worker said there were multiple instances wherein he showed up to work, and there was nothing to do. While Peloton told BuzzFeed that it pays workers for "a minimum of four hours" of work, the person the publication interviewed said he was sent home without pay. 

Peloton exploded in popularity at the beginning of the pandemic when gyms were closed and people wanted an exercise machine in their homes. As BuzzFeed News notes, employees at its New York City HQ thought it was the best place to work, but it was the company's sales/video production staff, assembly workers and delivery drivers that raised concerns about missing pay. 

A Peloton spokesperson, however, told BuzzFeed that it provides paid break time, as per labor laws. The spokesperson also said: "We are committed to creating an inclusive, kind, and productive culture where all team members are treated respectfully and have the tools to succeed. Peloton employees are fairly paid, and we are committed to adhering to all legal requirements in every state in which we operate."

According to a CNBC report earlier this month, Peloton is experiencing a significant drop in demand due to several factors, such as increased competition from rivals. The report claimed that the company is pausing Bike and Tread production as a result, but Peloton CEO John Foley denied that in a letter to employees. He said that rumors the company is halting the production of its exercise machines are false, but he did say that Peloton is "resetting [its] production levels for sustainable growth." He also said that while layoffs are the last resort as a solution to its its problems, Peloton now needs to "evaluate [its] organization structure and size of [its] team."

The National Labor Relations Board has accused Amazon of threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers at its JFK8 warehouse in New York to discourage them from unionizing. According to the board's complaint as seen by Motherboard, Amazon brought a union avoidance consultant to the facility and told employees that it "would be futile for them to select the Union as their bargaining representative." The consultant reportedly said that union organizing at the warehouse would fail anyway, because the organizers were "thugs."

NLRB's complaint also said that Amazon representatives interrogated workers about union activities and promised to fix their issues if they didn't support the union and didn't distribute union literature. Further, the labor board alleges that security guards confiscated union literature from workers and told them they couldn't distribute the materials without permission. If you'll recall, Amazon's warehouse workers in New York filed a petition to unionize with the board last year, but they had to withdraw it after failing to gather enough signatures to be approved. The JFK8 workers re-filed their application in December and recently reached union vote threshold.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel denied the allegations to Motherboard, telling the publication: "These allegations are false and we look forward to showing that through this process."

These allegations come from a series of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers in May and June last year. The board investigated the incidents and found merit that they occurred. It has given Amazon February 10th to respond to the complaint and has set a hearing for it on April 5th. In addition to detailing workers' allegations in its complaint, the NLRB has also outlined a series of remedies it wants the company to follow. In particular, it wants Amazon to train its managers, supervisors, security guards and union avoidance consultants on workers' rights to organize and form unions. 

Workers at JFK8, an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York, have reportedly collected enough signatures to proceed with a union election vote. A National Labor Relations Board spokesperson, speaking to Reuters, confirmed that the workers had "reached a sufficient showing of interest," confirming a tweet from key organizer Chris Smalls.

That threshold of interest, incidentally, is 30 percent of a given workforce, which was likely a difficult feat given both the size of JFK8 and the nature of its round-the-clock shifts which ensure many coworkers never have cause to meet. More impressive is that this facility is seemingly being organized without the help of an established union, but instead by a new independent group endemic to this particular Fulfillment Center, calling itself the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).

ALU had previously submitted a petition for unionization, but withdrew it late last year after being informed by the NLRB that it had not collected enough signatures. 

Reached for comment, an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget "“We’re skeptical that there are a sufficient number of legitimate signatures and we’re seeking to understand how these signatures were verified. Our employees have always had a choice of whether or not to join a union, and as we saw just a few months ago, the vast majority of our team in Staten Island did not support the ALU.”

This milestone comes shortly before Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama are scheduled to hold a re-vote on their own union election — in that instance, under the auspices of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — on February 4th. A union vote took place at the facility almost exactly one year before, but the NLRB determined that Amazon had interfered in the election. 

In the case of JFK8, Amazon has until Friday to respond with its position. A hearing on the matter is slated for February 16th. 

Activision Blizzard had until 6PM ET on January 25th to voluntarily recognize Game Workers Alliance, a group of Raven Software employees that recently gathered the votes to unionize, backed by Communications Workers of America. That deadline passed without recognition from Activision Blizzard, and Raven employees will now move forward with plans to file for a union election through the National Labor Relations Board.

"At Activision Blizzard, we deeply respect the rights of all employees to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union," an Activision Blizzard spokesperson said. "We carefully reviewed and considered the CWA initial request last week and tried to find a mutually acceptable solution with the CWA that would have led to an expedited election process. Unfortunately, the parties could not reach an agreement."

In a series of tweets, GWA confirmed its plans to file with the NLRB. 

"This was an opportunity for Activision Blizzard to show a real commitment setting new and improved standards for workers," one tweet read. "Instead, Activision Blizzard has chosen to make a rushed restructuring announcement to try and hinder our right to organize."

Events have been unfolding quickly here, so let's break it down by day:

• January 21st: More than 30 quality assurance testers at Raven Software announced they'd gathered enough signatures to unionize, a move that would make Game Workers Alliance the first union at a large-scale North American video game studio. Raven is owned by Activision Blizzard and focuses on supporting Call of Duty: Warzone, so this is about as AAA as it gets. Union signatories asked Activision Blizzard leadership to voluntarily recognize GWA by January 25th.

• January 22nd: Raven workers ended a weekslong strike against Activision Blizzard, awaiting union recognition from executives. The strike began on December 6th, in response to layoffs of 12 QA testers at Raven — all of whom had signed their names to the unionization effort, according to The Washington Post.

• January 24th: Raven head Brian Raffel sent an email to employees announcing "organizational change" that would dissolve QA as a team and transfer those workers to various departments across the studio. This is known as "embedding" and it's not uncommon at AAA studios. Raffel said embedding was the next logical step in a process that began "several months ago."

"As we look ahead at the ongoing expansion of Call of Duty: Warzone, it’s more important than ever that we foster tighter integration and coordination across the studio – embedding will allow for this," Raffel wrote. 

The timing of the announcement and the focus on QA testers has concerned activist groups, union signatories at Raven and Activision Blizzard employees who have been fighting for cultural change at the studio since last year. Activision Blizzard is the subject of a lawsuit and multiple investigations into allegations of systemic gender discrimination and sexual harassment, and employees have walked out multiple times, calling for longstanding CEO Bobby Kotick to resign.

It's unclear how the restructuring at Raven will impact the union going forward, but the worry is that this move will impede members' ability to coordinate with each other. CWA said on Twitter that the announcement was "nothing more than a tactic to thwart Raven QA workers who are exercising their right to organize."

The CWA thread continued, "When Management uses meaningless buzzwords like ‘alignment,' ‘synergy,’ and ‘reorganization,’ they are sending a message to workers: ‘we make all the decisions, we have all the power.’"

An Activision Publishing spokesperson provided the following response to questions about the timing of the reorganization: 

“This is the next step in a process that has been carefully considered and in the works for some time, and this structure brings Raven into alignment with the best practices of other prominent Activision studios. It is also a milestone in our broader plan to integrate QA more into the development process as our teams strive to deliver best in class coordination in real-time, live service operations.”

All of which brings us to today. Activision Blizzard employees have a supermajority of votes in favor of unionizing, and they're bringing their case to the NLRB. This can be a protracted process, and the longer it takes, the more leverage Activision Blizzard leadership will have.

Cornell professor of labor and employment law Risa Lieberwitz told The Washington Post that the structural changes shouldn't interrupt the unionization process, but added that the timing "raises the question of whether [Activision Blizzard] are retaliating against the QA employees because of their union activities."

The full statement from an Activision Blizzard spokesperson about the failed unionization talks with CWA follows:

At Activision Blizzard, we deeply respect the rights of all employees to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union. We carefully reviewed and considered the CWA initial request last week and tried to find a mutually acceptable solution with the CWA that would have led to an expedited election process. Unfortunately, the parties could not reach an agreement.

We expect that the union will be moving forward with the filing of a petition to the NLRB for an election. If filed, the company will respond formally to that petition promptly. The most important thing to the company is that each eligible employee has the opportunity to have their voice heard and their individual vote counted, and we think all employees at Raven should have a say in this decision.

Across the company, we believe that a direct relationship between managers and team members allows us to quickly respond and deliver the strongest results and opportunities for employees. As a result of these direct relationships, we’ve made a number of changes over the past couple years including raising minimum compensation for Raven QA employees by 41%, extending paid time off, expanding access to medical benefits for employees and their significant others, and transitioning more than 60% of temporary Raven QA staff into full-time employees. We look forward to continuing a direct dialogue with our team and working together to make our workplace better.

Microsoft last week announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, a deal that's poised to change the video game landscape completely. One day after that news dropped, Activision said in an SEC filing that there were no unionization efforts underway at the studio, though it had previously warned Raven employees to "consider the consequences” of signing union cards.

Isaiah Thomas is a 20-year-old Amazon worker at the company's Bessemer, Alabama facility, BHM1. He is also a vocal supporter of unionizing the warehouse. In a conference with press Monday evening, he described what he believed were surveillance and retaliation by his employer, solely because of his support for collective bargaining efforts. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which has been working to represent employees at BHM1, has filed two unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board over the incident. 

In a screenshot provided by the union, a letter addressed only from "BHM1 Management" to Isaiah claims the worker was "soliciting in working areas, during working associate times." The letter concedes that these activities "may have occurred during your break time" but nonetheless contends that Isaiah was "in violation" of the company's solicitation policy. 

RWDSU, however, believes this action was itself in violation of "the settlement agreement the employer recently executed with the NLRB." That agreement, which was reported late last month, pertained to several instances of Amazon impeding union activity. The union filed a separate ULP, alleging that the company or its agents "created the impression Mr. Thomas was under surveillance." Amazon has been known to hold captive audience meetings meant to discourage union interest, and after one such meeting at BHM1 wherein Isaiah allegedly questioned a "labor relations manager," RWDSU states in its ULP that "Mr. Thomas observed the employer's agents circling his work area for no other purpose than to watch him work" and later assigned him to a different area where he could be "more easily observed."   

While RWDSU have described the letter as a "reprimand" in an email to Engadget, it's unclear if it represents a formal write-up. We've reached out for comment from Amazon.

BHM1 famously became the first large Amazon facility on US soil to hold a union vote. While the vote swung heavily in favor of the cloud-and-ecommerce giant, it was challenged on procedural grounds by RWDSU. The NLRB found merit to the challenge, ruling that Amazon had, in fact, illegally interfered with the unionization vote. Ultimately the Board determined a new vote should be held. It's scheduled to take place on February 4th (though the ballot count will not begin until the end of March.) 

Amazon is, beyond is preference for a non-unionized workforce, well known for its rate of employee attrition. Seemingly, the speed at which it churns through workers would disadvantage efforts to build a cohesive bargaining unit at BHM1. According to RWDSU, the current voter list at the facility it 6,143 people, just over half of which were present for the previous vote, which took place almost exactly one year ago. 

Having announced plans recently to form the first labor union within a North American AAA game developer, workers at Raven Software are ending their weeks-long strike action against publisher Activision Blizzard. "Pending the recognition of our union, the Raven QA strike has ended,” Activision Blizzard worker advocacy group ABetterABK said on Saturday in a tweet spotted by Eurogamer. “Unused strike funds are being stored for future organizing [and] strike efforts.”

The strike began in December when 60 employees and contractors with Raven Software’s quality assurance department walked off the job to protest the studio’s decision to lay off 12 of their co-workers. Raven is one of the developers that supports Activision’s Call of Duty franchise, and its QA team is specifically responsible for bugs and other technical issues in Warzone. When the action began, it had no planned end date, a first for the walkouts at Activision Blizzard. The publisher had reportedly declined to meet with the striking workers, despite mounting pressure from Warzone’s community over the game’s current state.

On Friday, the 34 workers who said they plan to unionize with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) asked Activision Blizzard to recognize their group, the Game Workers Alliance, voluntarily. The company has until January 25th to respond to the workers. "Activision Blizzard is carefully reviewing the request for voluntary recognition from the CWA, which seeks to organize around three dozen of the company’s nearly 10,000 employees," the company said on Friday.

If the company fails to respond to the group, it will file for a union election through the National Relations Broad. Since the collective has a supermajority of votes, with 78 percent of the 34-person unit supporting the action, they can form a union without voluntary recognition from Activision Blizzard.

News of the union drive at Raven comes in the same week that Microsoft announced its intent to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Pending regulatory approval, the company expects the deal, which could have far-reaching ramifications for the gaming industry, to close in June 2023.