Amazon sued for alleged race and gender bias in corporate hires

Amazon.com Inc. was sued for allegedly discriminating against Black and female workers in hiring employees for its corporate offices.
 
The lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court in Washington, alleges that Amazon hires people of colour “at lower levels” and promotes them less than White co-workers with similar qualifications. The claims include discrimination and harassment as well as violations of the Equal Pay Act.
 
“These practices have an especially severe effect on Black women at the company,” according to a statement from Wigdor LLP, the law firm that filed the suit on behalf of Charlotte Newman. Newman is head of underrepresented founder startup business development at Amazon Web Services. Amazon works to foster a diverse and inclusive culture, the company said in a statement. “We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and thoroughly investigate all claims and take appropriate action,” Amazon said. “We are currently investigating the new allegations included in this lawsuit.”

 

Industry problem
 
Amazon’s lack of racial and gender diversity in its corporate ranks is common throughout the technology industry. Most of the Seattle e-commerce company’s workforce diversity is in its blue collar warehouses, where products are packed and shipped to customers.
 
But Newman, a Black woman, makes a number of alarming allegations of racism in the suit, including that a senior employee pulled her hair and that a manager told her she was “scary.” Hired four years ago as a public policy manager, Newman claims she had applied for a higher-level job for which she was better qualified.

 
“Within months of starting at the company, she in fact was assigned and doing the work of a senior manager-level employee while still being paid at and having the title of the manager level,” according to the lawsuit. “To make matters worse, and in defiance of the antidiscrimination laws, Ms. Newman was paid significantly less than her white coworkers, particularly in valuable Amazon stock.”
 
Pattern of discrimination
 
Newman alleges that many of her colleagues observed a “consistent practice of paying Black employees less than similarly situated white employees.” They also witnessed “a near-total lack of Black representation in and very few women in the upper echelons of the group’s leadership,” according to the suit.