Anthropic told its San Francisco office staff to work from home on Monday and Tuesday after security contractor Allied Universal warned that guards could go on strike. Rather than risk running an office without security, the company simply told employees to stay away.
But the union representing those guards says the warning is news to them. They never issued a strike notice for this week — they didn't even hold a strike authorization vote. Negotiations on a new contract have been underway since April, with the union pushing for higher pay, better health benefits, and more security training.
Anthropic's caution isn't paranoia. In April, a man followed an employee into Anthropic's lobby and said a company executive "would be killed." The same month, someone threatened employees' family members. In June, someone threatened to bring a handgun to the office over a refund dispute. And last week, San Francisco police received a 911 call reporting that an Anthropic user had threatened the company's CEO and vowed to come to the 500 Howard St. office with an AR-15 to hurt employees.
Source: Business Insider