Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has sued Amazon, accusing the tech giant of running a “lawless employee shopping spree” by recruiting contracted employees, including HBO marketing veteran Pia Barlow.

The lawsuit, filed in California on July 21, alleges that Amazon encouraged employees to breach existing employment agreements. Rather than build its own entertainment workforce, Amazon allegedly targeted executives who were already under fixed-term contracts, WBD argues.

Pia Barlow at the Centre of the Dispute

One of the key figures in the case is Barlow, the former senior vice president of originals marketing at HBO Max. According to the complaint, “there is perhaps no better example of Amazon’s lawless employee shopping spree” than its hiring of the marketing executive.

Last week, Amazon MGM Studios announced that Barlow would take on the newly created role of head of original series marketing. She is expected to start on Aug. 3.

Court documents state that Barlow’s employment agreement was due to run until Oct. 31, 2027. WBD claims Amazon knew about that contract before offering her the new position.

“Though it was aware of Barlow’s ongoing contractual commitment to WMS, of which WBD is a beneficiary, Amazon has brazenly and deliberately induced Barlow to breach the employment agreement by packing up and decamping to Amazon more than 16 months before its expiration,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint further alleges that Amazon offered Barlow a higher pay package. As a result, she “promptly discarded those commitments, demonstrating that her contractual promises were worth honouring only until a richer offer appeared.”

Claims of a Wider Pattern

Beyond Barlow’s case, WBD says Amazon tried to recruit another executive whose contract remains in effect until December 2027.

That effort ultimately failed, according to the lawsuit. Even so, Warner Bros. Discovery argues the incident points to a broader pattern of conduct.

“Amazon has chosen to ride on the coattails of other well-established Hollywood mainstays such as Plaintiffs” by poaching employees “rather than build its entertainment-production workforce from the ground up,” the lawsuit says.

Damages and Legal Action Sought

In its filing, the media company seeks unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief.

“Amazon must be stopped; it should not be permitted to profit from its illegal and tortious behaviour,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in the filing.

The complaint also alleges that Amazon promised legal support to employees it recruited. “In blatant disregard of established California law, Amazon has gone rogue by attempting to induce Plaintiffs’ employees with term employment agreements to breach those agreements with impunity, backed up with the ready assurance that Amazon will defend and indemnify them should they be held to account for their blatantly unlawful acts,” the complaint states.