Articles by Jeffrey Dastin

Amazon Sues New York Over COVID Workplace Safety, Firing Lawsuit

Amazon.com Inc. on Friday sued New York’s attorney general to stop the state from filing its own lawsuit over the online retailer’s early response to COVID-19, including its firing of activist Christian Smalls. In a complaint in Brooklyn federal court, …

Google Adds Extra Scrutiny of Its Scientists’ Research on ‘Sensitive Topics’

Alphabet Inc.’s Google this year moved to tighten control over its scientists’ papers by launching a “sensitive topics” review, and in at least three cases requested authors refrain from casting its technology in a negative light, according to internal communications …

National Labor Board Says Amazon Illegally Fired Protesting Employee

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday alleged Amazon.com Inc. illegally fired an employee this year who was raising alarm about workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon associate Gerald Bryson was helping lead a protest outside a company …

Amazon Reveals 19,000 Frontline Workers Contracted Coronavirus

Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday said more than 19,000 of its U.S. frontline workers contracted the coronavirus this year, or 1.44% of the total, a disclosure sought by labor advocates who have criticized the COVID-19 response by the world’s largest online …

Reuters: Rite Aid Deployed China-Linked Facial Recognition in Poor Neighborhoods

Over about eight years, the American drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp quietly added facial recognition systems to 200 stores across the United States, in one of the largest rollouts of such technology among retailers in the country, a Reuters investigation …

Amazon Tests Hospital Workplace Safety Idea With Disinfectant Fog at Warehouse

Amazon.com Inc. is testing the use of disinfectant fog at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York starting on Tuesday, the company told Reuters, following worker protests over the risk of coronavirus infection at the site. The measure shows how …

Microsoft Puts Israeli Facial Recognition Startup Under Ethics Microscope

Microsoft Corp. has hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether the use of facial recognition technology developed by an Israeli startup it funded complies with its ethics principles, the company said on Friday. AnyVision, based outside Tel …

U.S. Selects 10 Drone Test Projects

The U.S. Transportation Department’s 10 winning drone pilot projects aimed at spurring the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in a wide variety of fields do not include Amazon.com Inc. and China’s DJI, but do involve Alphabet Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and …

Regulators Had Concerns About Engine Type That Blew in Southwest Plane

European regulators this month began requiring an inspection by early next year of the type of engine that blew apart on a fatal Southwest Airlines flight on Tuesday, and a source said U.S. regulators were near a similar rule. The …

For Disney in Florida, Capturing ‘Nuisance’ Alligators Is Normal Part of Business

Walt Disney Co. has had more than 240 “nuisance” alligators captured and killed over the last 10 years at its Florida theme park property, according to state records. The records reveal the park’s constant struggle to keep alligators away from …