Amazon has filed a lawsuit against a Washington state agency to prevent the release of documents related to its Project Kuiper satellite internet initiative to The Washington Post, The Associated Press reports.
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, seeks to block the disclosure of what Amazon describes as “trade secrets” collected during state investigations.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries conducted four on-site investigations at a Project Kuiper facility between August and October of last year, gathering the documents at the center of the dispute. In November, The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, requested copies of these documents through a public records request. Amazon’s lawsuit does not reveal the specific findings of the state investigations.
Amazon claims that it is not trying to prevent the release of all documents, but rather seeks to protect sensitive personal information, such as employee names, and proprietary records concerning Project Kuiper’s technology. The company stated that releasing this information would reveal its technological capabilities.
The Department of Labor & Industries notified Amazon of The Washington Post’s request in early January, providing a link to the proposed documents for review. This notification offered Amazon an opportunity to challenge the release in court.
While Amazon and the agency have previously worked together on public records requests, they have also clashed over worker safety issues. In 2022, Amazon sued the agency over citations and fines relating to worker safety. Last year, a judge ruled in favor of Amazon in another high-profile worker safety case, despite the agency’s initial plans to appeal.
The agency has not commented on Amazon’s latest lawsuit. A spokesperson for The Washington Post also declined to comment.
This lawsuit comes amid other Amazon news. Separately, the company announced it would be laying off “a small number” of employees in its communications and corporate responsibility department, impacting dozens of corporate workers.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 and served as CEO until 2021. He purchased The Washington Post in 2013.
