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A class action lawsuit filed this week accuses the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a central part of George Soros’s nonprofit network, of conspiring in a Chinese-backed effort to block data center development in Seattle, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which reviewed the complaint. The suit claims the effort cost workers their jobs and exposed their families to harassment.
The case lands as the anti-data center movement draws closer scrutiny. According to the Free Beacon, exit polls ranked data centers among the top issues for voters in Tuesday’s elections, and voters approved 40 of 41 ballot measures nationwide that placed new limits on data center construction. President Donald Trump has suggested China is behind the opposition, saying in August that “China could not be happier with this anti-data center movement.”
Seattle recently adopted a ban on new data center development after pressure and protests from local activist groups. The complaint alleges those groups received money from international sources, namely China, routed through the Foundation to Promote Open Society and the Proteus Fund. Citing the watchdog Influence Watch, the Free Beacon notes the Proteus Fund is not part of the Open Society network but has worked with it on liberal initiatives.
The lead plaintiff, licensed electrician Monte Pringle, lost at least $200,000 in wages and several long-term job opportunities because of the moratorium, the complaint states. He had been hired for a Microsoft project in Malaga, Wash., which the suit says was scrapped because of constant protests and unlawful site entries. The class covers people who work or worked for companies building data centers in Washington.
“This case is about protecting American workers and American jobs,” said Rich Kelsey of Impresa Legal Group, which represents Pringle. Kelsey said the complaint alleges that funding for the campaign “may trace back to foreign economic competitors,” and argued that the “battlefield has been data centers.”
Besides the two foundations, the suit names two Seattle-area chapters of the Indivisible Project and three activists who founded or run local groups behind protests against data centers. According to the complaint, the groups entered secured construction sites without permission, blocked entrances, kept workers from their jobs and threatened them with violence. The suit claims those actions led projects to be suspended or abandoned and influenced the city’s moratorium.
The complaint does not identify a specific foreign payment to the nonprofits, but says federal investigative efforts “point to at least partial Chinese government funding.” The Free Beacon notes that a Bitcoin Policy Institute investigation earlier this year linked several anti-data center campaigns to organizations tied to the Chinese government, and that Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, then called for a federal probe. The outlet also reports that, according to tax filings, a fund of Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has given Indivisible more than $7 million.
An Open Society Foundations spokesperson denied the allegations, calling the case “a frivolous lawsuit built on conspiracy theories, not facts.” The spokesperson said the foundations have not funded or coordinated any campaign to harass data center workers and do not accept foreign funding. “We categorically reject these allegations,” the spokesperson said.
