German Central Bank Governor Jens Weidmann, front left, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, front center, Governor of the Bank of Japan, Masaaki Shirakawa, rear left, talks with Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso, center, and South Korea Central Bank Governor Kim Choong-soo, rear right, attend a group photo ceremony at a meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
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German Central Bank Governor Jens Weidmann, front left, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, front center, Governor of the Bank of Japan, Masaaki Shirakawa, rear left, talks with Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso, center, and South Korea Central Bank Governor Kim Choong-soo, rear right, attend a group photo ceremony at a meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
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Chief of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde prepares for a group photo at a meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
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Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke attends the summit of financial ministers and heads of central banks of the G20 group of nations ahead of their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
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From right, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, Undersecretary of International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department Lael Brainard, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Chief of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde attend a group photo ceremony at a meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
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Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz speaks during a news conference at FTC in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, to announce that Google is agreeing to license certain patents to mobile phone rivals and stop a practice of including snippets from other websites in its search results as part of a settlement to end a 19-month investigation in the search leader's business practices. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
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In this 2009 image provided by Charity: Water, Scott Harrison walks in a field in the northern region of Tigray in Ethiopia in 2009, as he visits a water project completed by local partner, Relief Society of Tigray. Harrison's organization has funded nearly 7,000 clean water projects in some of the poorest areas of the world. He wanted to add sensors to the wells to give donors more assurances about the projects. But raising millions of dollars for the innovation was a problem. Google stepped in with major funding to create and install sensors on 4,000 wells across Africa that will send back real-time data on the water flow. Experts say the new annual grants are a part of a growing trend in venture philanthropy from donors who see technology as an instrument for social change. (AP Photo/Charity: Water)
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In this undated image provided by Charity: Water, Scott Harrison talks with school children as he visits a school water project in India. His organization has funded nearly 7,000 clean water projects in some of the poorest areas of the world. Harrison wanted to add sensors to the wells to give donors more assurances about the projects. But raising millions of dollars for the innovation was a problem. Google stepped in with major funding to create and install sensors on 4,000 wells across Africa that will send back real-time data on the water flow. Experts say the new annual grants are a part of a growing trend in venture philanthropy from donors who see technology as an instrument for social change. (AP Photo/Charity Water)
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FILE - In this Friday, July 27, 2012 file photo, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks at a Republican Party of Arkansas fundraising dinner in Hot Springs, Ark. Top officials in Jindal's administration used personal email accounts to craft a media strategy for cutting Medicaid — a method of communication that can make it more difficult to track under public records laws. Jindal, now in his second term, has become a leading voice among Republican governors and is considered a potential presidential candidate. His administration's emails fold into a national debate over the use of personal email accounts by government members to discuss official business. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)
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FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2012, file photo, Jill Kelley leaves her home in Tampa, Fla. The way the FBI responded to Jill Kelley’s complaint about receiving harassing emails, which ultimately unraveled or scarred the careers of ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and Marine Gen. John Allen, is the exception, not the rule. The FBI commonly declines to pursue cyberstalking cases without compelling evidence of serious or imminent harm to an individual, victims of online harassment, advocacy groups and computer crime experts told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Amazon fires German security firm amid probe
BERLIN (AP) — Online retailer
Amazon reacted to mounting criticism Monday by firing a security company named in a German television documentary about alleged mistreatment of foreign temporary workers.
An Amazon spokeswoman in Germany said the company had ended its relationship with Hensel European Security Services "with immediate effect."
"Amazon has a zero tolerance limit for discrimination and intimidation and expects the same of other companies we work with," spokeswoman Ulrike Stoecker said in an email to The Associated Press.
A documentary shown on German public television channel ARD last week showed staff of the security company — whose initials spell out the surname of Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess — wearing clothes linked to Germany's neo-Nazi scene. It also interviewed people claiming they were intimidated by the security guards, who were stationed at a holiday camp where the temporary staff were housed.
The company, hired by one of Amazon's subcontractors, last week denied it supported far-right opinions. "We employ Christians, Muslims and Buddhists," the company said in a statement Friday. "The allegations of far-right sympathies can't be reconciled with that."
The ARD documentary alleged a broader climate of intimidation at Amazon's seven logistics centers in Germany, including threats of random staff searches, constant pressure to perform better and firing of workers who complained.
The ARD report echoes allegations by German union ver.di, which says Amazon's temporary workers face particular difficulties because many have been brought in from other European countries and don't understand that they are protected by Germany's stringent labor laws.
The German government said the Federal Labor Agency is investigating an Amazon subcontractor, which it didn't name, in the wake of the documentary.
"We expect the results of the special investigation during the course of the week," Labor Ministry spokeswoman Christina Wendt told reporters Monday.
"There is the option, if mistreatment actually took place, of removing (the subcontractor's) license," she added.
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