Plaintiffs Joshua Burns and Trishelle Garner (“Plaintiffs”) filed a lawsuit against Defendants Amazon.com Services LLC and Amazon Retail LLC (“Amazon”) on behalf of themselves and a class of similarly situated current and former employees. The lawsuit, Burns v. Amazon.com Services LLC, et al., is currently pending in King County Superior Court as Case Number 24-2-22574-9 SEA (the “Lawsuit”).
The Plaintiffs in this Lawsuit are two former Amazon employees who allege they were subject to an illegal noncompetition covenant. In particular, they allege that Section 4.1 of the “Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement” (CIAA) and other agreements containing the same provision are illegal noncompetition covenants. Plaintiffs allege that Amazon should pay $5,000 to each class member.
On September 4, 2025, the Court determined the Lawsuit should proceed on a class basis. The Court has not ruled on who will prevail. This notice is not an expression of any opinion of the Court as to the merits of any of the claims or defenses asserted by either party. There is no money available at this time and no guarantee that there ever will be.
You may be a class member if you worked for Amazon between January 1, 2020, and September 4, 2025, Amazon’s records reflect that your annual earnings were less than the threshold set forth in RCW 49.62.020(1)(b), as annually adjusted in accordance with RCW 49.62.040, and you may have entered into a CIAA or another agreement with Amazon containing the following language:
Non-Solicitation. During Employment and for 18 months after the Separation Date, Employee will not, directly or indirectly, whether on Employee’s own behalf or on behalf of any other entity (for example as an employee, agent, partner, or consultant): (a) accept or solicit business from any Customer of any product or service that Employee worked on or supported during the final 18 months of Employee’s employment with Amazon, or about which Employee obtained or received Confidential Information by virtue of, and during the final 18 months of, Employee’s employment with Amazon; or (b) encourage any Customer or Business Partner to cease doing business with Amazon or to terminate or limit an existing relationship or arrangement with Amazon. For purposes of this Agreement, “Customer” means any individual or entity that was a customer or client of Amazon during Employee’s employment, or with which Amazon engaged in discussions before the Separation Date related to the possibility that such party might become a customer or client of Amazon, and “Business Partner” means any individual or entity with which, before the Separation Date, Amazon was involved in any business arrangement or engaged in discussions regarding the possibility of entering into such an arrangement.
The Court has not made any determinations regarding the merits of the Plaintiff’s claims, and it has not decided whether Defendants violated the law.
If you meet these criteria, you are a member of the Class and your legal rights may be affected, so you have a choice to make now:
Your Legal Rights and Options in this Lawsuit | |
Do Nothing | Stay in this Lawsuit. Await the outcome. By doing nothing, you keep the possibility of getting money that may come from a trial or a settlement. However, you will not be able to sue Amazon separately about the same claims in this Lawsuit, and you will be bound by the judgment, whether favorable or not. |
Ask to Be Excluded from the Lawsuit | Get out of this Lawsuit. Get no benefits from it. Keep rights. If you ask to be excluded from the Lawsuit and money is later awarded to the class members, you won’t share in that money. However, you keep any rights to sue Amazon for the same claims in this Lawsuit. |
Your options are explained in this Notice. To be excluded, you must act by March 31, 2026.
Plaintiffs, the class members who do not opt out, and Class Counsel must prove the claims against Amazon at trial. Trial is currently scheduled for September 10, 2026, but that date may change. If money is obtained as a result of this Lawsuit, you may receive additional notice as determined by the Court.