Sexy News Item
Amazon.com has fired another
employee for discussing their work with The Stranger. Arielle
Davis, 20, who was named “Seattle’s Sexiest Customer Service
Rep” in The Stranger‘s February 14 issue, was fired from
her job as a receptionist—contracted through an employment
agency—last week because, she says, of an off-handed comment she
made about a crazy customer.
Davis’s firing comes two weeks after Amazon fired Stranger blogger Sam Machkovech for writing about a Billy Ray Cyrus performance
at Amazon’s downtown offices, on Line Out, The Stranger‘s music
blog.
In her Seattle’s Sexiest interview, Davis joked about a “crazy
caller” she had dealt with, who “claim[ed] to be Jeff Bezos’s
sister… crying, to contest a $2.50 shipping and handling
fee.”
Davis says her coworkers playfully teased her about her
Stranger appearance, but when Davis read about Machkovech’s
firing she became concerned. After rereading her quote about the
customer, Davis contacted The Stranger and asked us to remove
the comment from the website. She also e-mailed an apology to her
coworkers. Then, Davis says, Amazon’s public relations department
contacted her. But, instead of firing her, Davis says Amazon asked her
if they could put her Seattle’s Sexiest write-up on the company’s
internal employee page. Davis says Amazon’s PR department told her
the comment was “no big deal.”
A week later, on February 28, Davis was fired. “I’ve never been
fired before in my life,” she says. “I’ve never had a disciplinary
hearing, I’ve only called in sick once in my life. [This] really
sucks.”
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment. JONAH
SPANGENTHAL-LEE
Boring News Item
The Seattle Police Officers’ Guild has filed an unfair labor
practices complaint against the city, after Mayor Greg Nickels’s office
orchestrated a bold move to circumvent the guild and bring the city’s
contract offer straight to officers.
At the request of the mayor’s office, a number of SPD’s assistant
chiefs—who are not represented by the guild—distributed
a summary of the city’s contract terms to officers during roll call on
February 27, despite the guild’s claim that the city had agreed to keep
the contract terms confidential.
Negotiations between the city and the guild have been stalled for
months, with both sides accusing each other of making
unreasonable demands. The city offered up a 24 percent wage
increase—over four years—but the guild claims the city will
not compromise on police accountability issues. JONAH
SPANGENTHAL-LEE