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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Amazon and Microsoft employees caught up in sex trafficking sting

2017-12-26

[EnGadget]The tech industry has a clear history of sexism and misogyny, but a recent Newsweek report highlights another problem. The publication got its hands on a slew of emails sent to brothels and pimps between 2014 and 2016 that document the industry's patronage of brothels and purchasing of services from trafficked sex workers. Among the emails, which were obtained through a public records request to the King County Prosecutor's Office, were 67 sent from Microsoft employee email accounts, 63 from Amazon accounts and dozens more from companies like Boeing, T-Mobile, Oracle and local Seattle tech firms.

Some of the emails were collected during a 2015 sting operation that targeted sex worker review boards and resulted in the arrest of 18 individuals, including high-level Amazon and Microsoft directors. Two opted for a trial, which is currently set to begin in March.

Seattle's sex industry has grown right alongside its tech industry and the city's authorities have said that some men spend up to $50,000 per year on sex workers. Brothels are even known to advertise how close they are to tech offices. Alex Trouteaud, director of policy and research at the anti-trafficking organization Demand Abolition, told Newsweek that the tech industry is a "culture that has readily embraced trafficking."

In a statement sent to Newsweek, Microsoft said, "Microsoft has a long history of cooperating with law enforcement and other agencies on combating sex trafficking and related topics, and we have employees who volunteer their time and money specifically to combat this issue as well. The personal conduct of a tiny fraction of our 125,000 employees does not in any way represent our culture. No organization is immune to the unfortunate situation when employees act unethically or illegally. When that happens, we look into the conduct and take appropriate action. Microsoft makes it clear to our employees they have a responsibility to act with integrity and conduct themselves in a legal and ethical manner at all times. If they don't, they risk losing their jobs."

Amazon told Newsweek it's investigating the matter and said, "Amazon's Owner's Manual clearly states that, 'It is against Amazon's policy for any employee or Contingent Worker to engage in any sex buying activities of any kind in Amazon's workplace or in any work-related setting outside of the workplace, such as during business trips, business meetings or business-related social events.' When Amazon suspects that an employee has used company funds or resources to engage in criminal conduct, the company will immediately investigate and take appropriate action up to and including termination. The company may also refer the matter to law enforcement."

Posted by:Anomalous Sources

#12 Because we get blacklisted when we don't.
Up the Universe!

Posted by: 3dc 2017-12-26 21:58

#11 And US Corporations were once conservative.

Upper management in large corporations as a group, all hardworking, thoughtful, college-educated individuals, are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Those who think otherwise keep quiet about it, in my experience.

Posted by: trailing wife 2017-12-26 10:33

#10 Have you guys actually been to Seattle?
Don't be so "victimized female".
There are many genders in trafficked sex worker

Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-26 09:31

#9 the industry's patronage of brothels and purchasing of services from trafficked sex workers.

I'd like to see the purchase order. My bet is it's a blanket P.O. for services, worker, sex, female, trafficked Qty 2,000 f.o.b $100 ea.

Posted by: Cheath Sproing2107 2017-12-26 08:22

#8 Yep the "trafficked" term is a tell that this article is just fakenews.

Shouldn't it be praising Trump for his pledge to secure the border and thus prevent actually trafficked prostitution

Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2017-12-26 07:44

#7 trafficked sex workers

A title employed for anyone engaged in commercial sex whether consensual or not. It's like all illegals are 'migrants' conflated with legal immigrants or the conflating of natural and man made climate change into labeling skeptics deniers. IIRC in counties outside of Reno and Vegas in Nevada, it is still legal to operate brothels, but to they'll still be referred to as 'trafficked sex workers'.

Posted by: P2kontheroad 2017-12-26 07:35

#6 As with the hollyweird crowd, the IT world, as embodied bt MS, Gurgle, Crapple, Fartbook, Sh*tree and PayPally, are all scolds telling us all how to live every day. They'll call this an aberration, not indicative of the organizations as a whole. I'll go with the Law of Ultimate Syzygy: You put a teaspoon of wine in a barrel of sewage, you get sewage. You put a teaspoon of sewage in a barrel of wine, you get sewage...

Posted by: M. Murcek 2017-12-26 06:58

#5 You didn't see women these poor suckers end up marrying, Skid.

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-12-26 06:55

#4 trafficked sex workers

Pretty narrow view of the world there Grom buddy.

Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-26 05:33

#3 Yea, well, the key to success in IT is proper care & feeding of computer nerds - meaning, in particular, arranging for them things they can't do for themselves.
p.s. How is that sexist - do the authors claim that a woman doesn't have a right to chose to work in providing sexual services? Do they claim ownership on female vaginas!!!

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-12-26 02:29

#2 And US Corporations were once conservative. Now we know that the directors are definitely not conservatives which explains their leftist/lawless tendencies these days.

Another today's corp executive "embracing cheap labor" policy.

Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 2017-12-26 01:50

#1 Their drones deliver!

Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-26 00:21

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