A security firm employing guards with reputed links to neo-Nazis has been fired by online retail site Amazon.com. The action follows allegations that the guards were harassing foreign Amazon employees in Germany.
Last week German broadcaster ARD screened a documentary showing Amazon seasonal employees explaining that they were poorly treated by guards whose firm sports an acronym that spells out the last name of Adolf Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess.
The firm, Hensel European Security Services (HESS), was excised from duty "with immediate effect," an Amazon spokeswoman said on Monday, Feb. 18.
Amazon has a "zero-tolerance" approach to "discrimination and intimidation," the spokeswoman says, and the online mogul "expects the same of other companies it works with."
The documentary in question went on to show that workers in such places as a warehouse in Bad Hersfeld were put under direct surveillance by HESS guards who had shaved heads and wore black uniforms, heralding their alleged neo-Nazi affiliation.
A woman from Spain revealed that after feeling so harassed, she complained to the security staff, and was terminated the following day without explanation.
Criticism about Amazon's employment practices in Germany have been mounting for some time, with trade union Verdi alleging that Amazon pays its temporary workers unfair wages and puts them under gratuitous surveillance.
"The accusation that our company harbours far-right views or supports them is false," HESS said in a statement denying any untoward activities.
Ursula von der Leyen, Germany's employment minister, has put into motion a probe into these allegations. Any evidence that shows validity to the claims, von der Leyen warns, will result in serious penalties for the temporary employment agency employed by Amazon.
"There is a strong suspicion here, which is why we need to lay all the facts on the table," said von der Leyen. "If the investigation shows there is something to the accusations against the temporary placement agency then its licence is at risk."
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