A shareholder of Amazon sued Amazon and a group of individuals, including founder Jeff Bezos and members of Amazon’s leadership, claiming the defendants breached their fiduciary duties and asserting claims of corporate waste and unjust enrichment.
According to Thursday’s complaint, in addition to Bezos, the named defendants are from The Board of Directors, Officers, Audit Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and its Leadership Development and Compensation Committee (Individual Defendants).
The plaintiff alleges the Individual Defendants breached fiduciary duties when they knowingly stored employees’ biometric information without consent, which is also in direct violation of state laws and the Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA). The complaint also accuses the Individual Defendants of engaging in anticompetitive practices such as price inflation, and using Third Party Seller non-public data to give Amazon products preference. Finally, the Individual Defendants allegedly misled investors with the company’s SEC filings and other public statements.
The plaintiff claims that Amazon has suffered significant financial damages as a result of the Individual Defendants actions.
The plaintiff seeks for the Western District of Washington to find that the Individual Defendants breached their fiduciary duties and are therefore responsible for amending and paying damages for the financial harm to Amazon and shareholders, among other things.
The plaintiff also asks the court to direct Amazon to comply with all applicable laws and protect itself and its stockholders from further damages. Additionally, the plaintiff seeks equitable and injunctive relief, and costs.
The plaintiff is represented by Herman Jones, LLP and Johnson Fistel, LLP.
