Microsoft Terminates Israeli Unit 8200's Azure Access for Mass Surveillance of Palestinian Civilians

On September 25, 2025, Microsoft President Brad Smith announced the unprecedented decision to “cease and disable” cloud computing and AI services to Israel’s Unit 8200 military intelligence unit, marking the first time a major U.S. technology company terminated service to the …

McKinsey Agrees to $650 Million Criminal Settlement for Role in 'Turbocharging' Opioid Sales for Purdue Pharma

McKinsey & Company agrees to pay $650 million to settle federal criminal and civil investigations into its role in helping Purdue Pharma ’turbocharge’ sales of OxyContin, the highly addictive opioid painkiller at the center of America’s overdose epidemic. This marks the first …

McKinsey Pays $73 Million Final Settlement to South Africa in State Capture Resolution

South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) claws back R1.1 billion (approximately $73 million) from McKinsey & Company and its subsidiary McKinsey South Africa through a Corporate Alternative Dispute Resolution process, representing a final settlement of the state capture scandal. …

McKinsey Africa Agrees to Pay $122 Million Settlement for Bribery of South African Officials

McKinsey Africa enters into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to pay more than $122 million (approximately R2.2 billion) to resolve criminal charges for conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The …

Grok AI Implements Enhanced Safety Protocols After Regulatory Pressure

Following months of scrutiny, xAI announces updates to Grok AI’s content moderation and bias mitigation strategies. Key changes include stopping election misinformation generation, blocking inappropriate image generation, and committing to more transparent safety frameworks. These updates come …

Oracle Agrees to $115 Million Settlement Over Mass Surveillance Data Brokerage

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg granted preliminary approval on August 9, 2024, to a class action settlement requiring Oracle Corporation to pay $115 million and implement changes to its data brokerage practices. The settlement resolves the lawsuit filed in August 2022 alleging that Oracle …

xAI Implements Comprehensive AI Safety Protocols in Response to Investigations

Following extensive criticism from AI safety researchers, xAI announces partial updates to Grok AI’s safety mechanisms in July 2024. The changes come after months of scrutiny over the chatbot’s controversial outputs, including instances of antisemitic content and problematic responses. …

Musk's xAI Grok Faces Mounting Safety Scrutiny, Secures $200M Pentagon Contract

Elon Musk’s xAI faced intense scrutiny after releasing Grok AI without comprehensive safety documentation, including generating antisemitic content and pulling opinions directly from Musk’s social media posts. Despite these controversies, xAI secured a $200 million Pentagon contract in …

Amazon Refuses to Negotiate with JFK8 Union After NLRB Certification - Stalls Contract for Over a Year

Amazon Refuses to Negotiate with JFK8 Union After NLRB Certification - Stalls Contract for Over a Year

On January 11, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board officially certified the Amazon Labor Union’s historic April 2022 election victory at the Staten Island JFK8 facility, formally …

Federal Court Dismisses Abdulaziz Lawsuit, Rules McKinsey Had No Duty to Protect Dissident

A federal court grants McKinsey & Company’s motion to dismiss Omar Abdulaziz’s lawsuit for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), ruling that the consulting firm had no legal duty to protect the Saudi dissident’s identity when it produced …

Pulitzer-Winning Journalists Publish 'When McKinsey Comes to Town' Exposing Authoritarian Consulting

New York Times investigative reporters Walt Bogdanich (three-time Pulitzer Prize winner) and Michael Forsythe (George Polk Award winner and U.S. Navy veteran) publish ‘When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm,’ a landmark …

Amazon Injury Rate Double Warehouse Industry Average - 6.8 Per 100 Workers

Amazon Injury Rate Double Warehouse Industry Average - 6.8 Per 100 Workers

On April 12, 2022, the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC)—a coalition of four major labor unions—released a comprehensive report analyzing Amazon’s worker injury rates using federal OSHA data. The report revealed that …

Amazon JFK8 Workers Vote to Form Company's First U.S. Union in Historic Victory

Amazon JFK8 Workers Vote to Form Company’s First U.S. Union in Historic Victory

On April 1, 2022, workers at Amazon’s massive JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island voted 2,654 to 2,131 to form the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), creating the first unionized Amazon facility in the United …

Six Amazon Workers Killed in Edwardsville Warehouse Tornado Collapse

Six Amazon Workers Killed in Edwardsville Warehouse Tornado Collapse

On December 10, 2021, an EF-3 tornado struck Amazon’s DLI4 delivery facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, causing catastrophic structural damage that killed six workers: Deandre S. Morrow (28), Kevin D. Dickey (62), Clayton …

Federal Jury Finds CVS, Walgreens, Walmart Liable for Fueling Ohio Opioid Crisis

On November 23, 2021, a federal jury in Cleveland found CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart liable for contributing to the opioid crisis in Lake and Trumbull counties in Ohio. After a six-week trial and five and a half days of deliberation, jurors concluded that the pharmacy chains contributed to a public …

NLRB Hearing Officer Rules Amazon Illegally Interfered in Bessemer Election, Recommends New Vote

NLRB Hearing Officer Rules Amazon Illegally Interfered in Bessemer Election, Recommends New Vote

On August 2, 2021, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) hearing officer issued a recommendation finding that Amazon had illegally interfered in the April 2021 union election at its Bessemer, Alabama …

Amazon Defeats Bessemer Union Vote 1,798 to 738 After Intensive Anti-Union Campaign

Amazon Defeats Bessemer Union Vote 1,798 to 738 After Intensive Anti-Union Campaign

On April 9, 2021, vote counting concluded in the historic union election at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse (BHM1), with workers decisively rejecting unionization by a margin of 1,798 votes against to 738 …

Saudi Dissident Omar Abdulaziz's Lawsuit Against McKinsey Filed in Federal Court

Omar Abdulaziz, a Montreal-based Saudi activist who sought asylum in Canada in 2013, files a lawsuit in the Supreme Court, County of New York (later removed to federal court) against McKinsey & Company, alleging the consulting firm reported on him to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, …

Wells Fargo Scandal Scorecard: 5,300 Workers Fired, Zero Execs Prosecuted

After nearly a decade of systematic fraud, multiple investigations, Congressional hearings, and billions in penalties, the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal concludes with a stark scorecard that defines two-tiered justice in American finance: 3.5 million fraudulent accounts affecting millions of …

Amazon Discloses 19,816 Workers Infected with COVID-19 After Months of Concealment

Amazon Discloses 19,816 Workers Infected with COVID-19 After Months of Concealment

On October 1, 2020, after months of resisting transparency demands from workers, labor groups, politicians, and regulators, Amazon disclosed that at least 19,816 of its frontline employees had tested positive or been …

Whole Foods Heat Map Tracks Stores at Risk of Unionization Using Diversity and Demographics

Whole Foods Heat Map Tracks Stores at Risk of Unionization Using Diversity and Demographics

On April 20, 2020, Business Insider revealed that Amazon-owned Whole Foods had created an interactive “heat map” system that tracked and scored all 510 of its stores based on their risk of …

Amazon Fires Christian Smalls for Organizing COVID Safety Protest

Amazon Fires Christian Smalls for Organizing COVID Safety Protest

On March 30, 2020, Amazon fired warehouse worker Christian Smalls hours after he organized a walkout at the Staten Island JFK8 facility to protest inadequate COVID-19 safety measures. The termination occurred during the early, …

Rep. Pramila Jayapal Launches Congressional Inquiry Into McKinsey's ICE Contracts and Detention Recommendations

U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee on Immigration and Citizenship, writes to Kevin Sneader, Global Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company, demanding detailed information about the firm’s work with ICE. The letter requests specific …

ProPublica Exposes McKinsey's ICE Work Through FOIA Lawsuit: 1,500 Pages Reveal Detention Cost-Cutting Proposals

ProPublica publishes a bombshell investigation co-published with The New York Times revealing the full extent of McKinsey’s controversial work with ICE, based on 1,500 pages of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The documents expose that McKinsey proposed cuts in …

Amazon Warehouse Worker Billy Foister Dies on Warehouse Floor After Heart Attack

Amazon Warehouse Worker Billy Foister Dies on Warehouse Floor After Heart Attack

On September 2, 2019, Billy Foister, a 48-year-old Amazon warehouse worker, suffered a fatal heart attack at the Amazon fulfillment center in Etna, Ohio. According to his brother and coworkers, Foister lay on the …

McKinsey Managing Director Says Firm Would 'Walk' from Murderer Client, Then Increases Saudi Revenue

In March 2019, just months after Jamal Khashoggi’s October 2018 assassination by Saudi agents on orders from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a reporter asks McKinsey Managing Director Kevin Sneader what McKinsey would do if they found out their client was a murderer. Sneader replies: …

McKinsey Claims It's 'Horrified' After Saudi Dissident Report Made Public

McKinsey & Company issues a statement claiming it is ‘horrified by the possibility, however remote, that it could have been misused’ after The New York Times reports the firm’s 2016 report identifying three Saudi dissidents had been weaponized by Mohammed bin Salman’s …

Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 But Eliminates Bonuses and Stock Options

Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 But Eliminates Bonuses and Stock Options

On October 2, 2018, one month after Bernie Sanders introduced the “Stop BEZOS Act,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the company would raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all U.S. employees, effective …

Amazon's Anti-Union Training Video Leaked - Exposes Systematic Union Suppression Program

Amazon’s Anti-Union Training Video Leaked - Exposes Systematic Union Suppression Program

On September 26, 2018, Gizmodo published a leaked 45-minute union-busting training video that Amazon had distributed to Whole Foods team leaders, exposing the company’s systematic program to identify …

Bernie Sanders Introduces "Stop BEZOS Act" Targeting Amazon Wages

Bernie Sanders Introduces “Stop BEZOS Act” Targeting Amazon Wages

On September 5, 2018, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act”—the “Stop BEZOS Act”—legislation designed to force large corporations like Amazon …

Tech Workers Coalition: Establishing Digital Resistance Infrastructure

In 2018, the Tech Workers Coalition (TWC) dramatically expanded its global presence, establishing 21 international chapters to create a systematic framework for technological resistance. This expansion built upon key organizing efforts from previous years, including the influential Google Walkouts …

McKinsey Agrees to Repay $74 Million to South Africa's Eskom After State Capture Scandal

McKinsey & Company reaches a settlement with South African power utility Eskom Holdings and a unit of the prosecuting authority, agreeing to return approximately R1 billion ($74 million) in fees earned on work for the electricity producer. Eskom had asked McKinsey to pay back the funds the …

New York Times Discloses McKinsey's $20 Million ICE Contract: Employee Outrage and Internal Crisis

The New York Times discloses that McKinsey & Company has done more than $20 million in consulting work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, triggering immediate outrage among McKinsey employees and alumni. The revelation comes on the same day that ICE announces an end to its ‘zero …

Federal Reserve Imposes Unprecedented Asset Cap on Wells Fargo

The Federal Reserve Board imposes an unprecedented enforcement action against Wells Fargo, restricting the bank from growing beyond its total asset size as of December 31, 2017—approximately $1.95 trillion. The asset cap represents the most severe punishment the Fed has imposed on a major bank in …

Stumpf Resigns as CEO, Retains Over $130 Million in Compensation

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf resigns effective immediately, ending his 34-year career at the bank amid the fake accounts scandal. Despite calls from Senator Elizabeth Warren and others for him to forfeit his compensation and face criminal charges, Stumpf departs with approximately $130-137 million in …

GM Plant Stops Using Flint Water After It Corrodes Car Parts—But Residents Must Keep Drinking It

General Motors’ engine plant in Flint stops using city water after discovering it is corroding engine parts, switching to Lake Huron water from a neighboring township at an anticipated cost to the city of $400,000. GM reports that the super-high levels of chloride in Flint River water are …

Amazon Implements Automated Worker Surveillance and Tracking System

Amazon Implements Automated Worker Surveillance and Tracking System

Beginning around 2012, Amazon deployed comprehensive automated surveillance systems in its warehouses that tracked worker productivity per second through handheld scanners, creating what labor advocates described as algorithmic …

Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed

Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed

On September 18, 2011, The Morning Call newspaper published a landmark investigation exposing brutal working conditions at Amazon’s warehouse in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania (Lehigh Valley). The investigation revealed that during …

BP Agrees to $20 Billion Gulf Coast Claims Fund Amid Deepwater Horizon Fallout

Under intense pressure from the Obama administration and Congress, BP agreed to establish a $20 billion independent claims fund to compensate victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The fund, administered by Kenneth Feinberg, represented an unprecedented corporate commitment to environmental …

Jeffrey Skilling Sentenced to 24 Years for Enron Fraud

On October 23, 2006, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to 24 years and four months in federal prison for his role in the Enron fraud, representing one of the harshest sentences ever imposed on a corporate executive. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake also ordered Skilling to forfeit …

Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling Convicted of Enron Fraud and Conspiracy

On May 25, 2006, a federal jury convicted Enron founder Kenneth Lay on all six counts of fraud and conspiracy, and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling on 19 of 28 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The verdicts marked a watershed moment in corporate accountability, holding top …

WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

On July 13, 2005, former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for orchestrating the largest corporate accounting fraud in American history. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in Manhattan, represented one of the harshest penalties ever …

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Signed Into Law as Brief Reform Moment

On July 30, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law, calling it “the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” The legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support—423 to 3 in the House and 99 …

Arthur Andersen Convicted, Destroying 85,000 Jobs Worldwide

On June 15, 2002, a federal jury convicted Arthur Andersen LLP of obstruction of justice for shredding thousands of Enron-related documents. The verdict effectively destroyed one of the world’s most prestigious accounting firms, eliminating 85,000 jobs globally and marking the last time a …

Bracero Program Ends After 22 Years - Farm Wages Immediately Jump 40%

The Bracero Program officially ends on December 31, 1964, after labor and civil rights reformers successfully pressure Congress to terminate the 22-year guest worker system. The program’s conclusion comes as mechanization increases in agriculture and mounting evidence exposes systematic …

Pecora Commission Issues Final Report on Wall Street Corruption

The Senate Banking and Currency Committee issued its 400-page final report documenting the systematic corruption, fraud, and market manipulation that caused the 1929 Wall Street crash and subsequent Great Depression. The investigation, which began on March 4, 1932 with Senate Resolution 84 and …

J.P. Morgan Jr. Testifies, Preferred List and Tax Evasion Exposed

J.P. Morgan Jr., head of the most powerful banking house in America, testified before the Pecora Commission in hearings that riveted the nation. The New York Times headline on May 24, 1933 blared: “Morgan Paid No Income Tax for 1931 or 1932.” Morgan admitted under oath that he and his …

Pecora Commission Exposes Albert Wiggin's Short Selling of Chase Bank Stock

The Pecora Commission revealed that Albert Wiggin, chairman of Chase National Bank, had secretly profited from his bank’s collapse during the 1929 crash. Beginning in September 1929, even as Wiggin publicly committed Chase’s funds to investment pools intended to stabilize the falling …

Charles Mitchell Testifies Before Pecora Commission, Resigns in Disgrace

Charles E. Mitchell, chairman of National City Bank (predecessor to Citigroup), began testimony before the Senate Banking Committee’s Pecora investigation after receiving a subpoena on January 24, 1933. Under Ferdinand Pecora’s meticulous questioning, Mitchell confessed that his 1929 …

Ferdinand Pecora Appointed Chief Counsel to Senate Banking Investigation

Republican Senator Peter Norbeck appointed Ferdinand Pecora, a former New York deputy district attorney, as the fourth chief counsel to the Senate Banking and Currency Committee’s investigation into the Wall Street crash. Pecora, son of Italian immigrants who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, …