Warner Bros. Discovery sued Amazon, alleging the internet giant engaged in an “illegal” campaign of “inducing contracted employees” of WBD to “breach their employment agreements” — including HBO marketing veteran Pia Barlow.
In its lawsuit, WBD alleged that “Amazon has chosen to ride on the coattails of other well-established Hollywood mainstays such as Plaintiffs” by poaching their employees “rather than build its entertainment-production workforce from the ground up.”
Warner Bros. Discovery said “there is perhaps no better example of Amazon’s lawless employee shopping spree” than its hiring of Barlow, formerly a senior VP of originals marketing at HBO Max. Amazon MGM Studios announced Friday that it had hired Barlow in the newly created role as head of original series marketing. Barlow is slated to start at Amazon on Aug. 3, reporting to global head of marketing Sue Kroll.
According to WBD’s lawsuit, Barlow’s employment contract was not set to expire until Oct. 31, 2027. Prior to her executing that employment agreement, Barlow had negotiated and executed two previous employment agreements with a WBD subsidiary, according to the suit.
Barlow “freely and expressly committed to remain employed” with WarnerMedia Services “for the duration of the term,” the lawsuit said. “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.”
Yet when Amazon offered still more money, Barlow promptlydiscarded those commitments, demonstrating that her contractual promises were worth honoringonly until a richer offer appeared.
Amazon’s scheme required an executive willing to treat her contractualcommitments as negotiable. Barlow proved willing to do exactly that. Having accepted theconsiderable benefits of a three-year employment agreement, she readily abandoned thoseobligations when Amazon offered greater financial rewards.
Amazon MGM Studios declined to comment on Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit.
WBD filed the suit on July 21 in California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, Central District.
“Amazon must be stopped; it should not be permitted to profit from its illegal and tortious behavior,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in the suit. The complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages and “injunctive relief as a result of Amazon’s willful and malicious interference in Plaintiffs’ contractual relationship with Barlow.”
“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,” WBD’s lawsuit said.
According to the WBD lawsuit, Barlow informed the company of her intention to terminate her employment “prematurely” on May 26, 2026, submitting her formal resignation notice on June 5, 2026. “Barlow’s actions conveyed a troublesome message throughout Plaintiffs’ executive ranks that contractual commitments may be disregarded, including whenever a larger paycheck appears, undermining the stability that term employment agreements are specifically intended to provide,” Warner Bros. Discovery alleged.
Moreover, Amazon “did not merely promise Barlow legal representation; it selected for her one of its own, hand-picked outside law firms.”
Barlow “is not the first (nor, apparently, the last) WBD employee that Amazon has targeted or will target in the future,” according to the lawsuit. According to Warner Bros. Discovery, just a few weeks before Amazon’s “interference with Barlow’s term employment contract,” Amazon “similarly endeavored to tortiously induce another WBD employee to breach their term employment agreement,” which was not set to expire until December 2027. “Fortunately, in that instance, Amazon ultimately was unsuccessful in its efforts to raid WBD’s workforce as to that particular executive,” according to the WBD complaint.