Amazon Hit By New Racial, Gender Bias Lawsuits From Employees

The women belonging to the age group ranging from 23 to 64, and who worked in corporate or warehouse management roles accused the etailer of favoring men over women in career growth

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New Delhi: The world’s largest online etailer Amazon.com Inc is once again embroiled in a controversy after five new lawsuits by women accused the company of gender bias, racial bias or both.

The women belonging to the age group ranging from 23 to 64 and, worked in corporate or warehouse management roles accused the etailer of favoring men over women in career growth, according to the Reuters report. Also Read: China's ByteDance Founder Zhang Yiming To Step Down As CEO, Shift Focus From People To Market

What are the charges filed against Amazon?

Among the accusers two of them are Black, one is Latina and the other is Asian-American while one is white. The lawsuits have been filed in federal courts in Arizona, California, Delaware and Amazon's hometown of Seattle. The women also found supervisors denigrating them, and faced retaliation after the complaint.

The current accusations also include Cindy Warner, a gay executive in that unit, who said a male manager openly called her a "bitch," an "idiot" and a "nobody," and that Amazon terminated her job after learning she had hired a lawyer.

Another Black plaintiffs Pearl Thomas said a human resources employee tried to brush aside her concerns saying, Thomas was affected by current events and that "my name is not Derek Chauvin," the white former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.

The lawsuits have been filed by the Wigdor law firm, which also represents a Black manager at Amazon Web Services who sued in March over alleged systemic discrimination. It is the same firm which represented women who have accused now-convicted movie producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, and Fox News employees alleging bias or harassment there.

What is Amazon’s stance?

Meanwhile, the company said there is no evidence supporting the accusations. As per the spokesperson quoted in Reuters report, Amazon does not tolerate discrimination or harassment, and supports a "diverse, equitable and inclusive culture."

In April, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reiterated that the company needed to look after employees better, and Amazon also expressed about hiring more Blacks in senior and corporate roles.

On the other hand, the company is urging shareholders at its May 26 annual meeting to oppose a proposal asking for an independent audit analyzing its "impacts on civil rights, equity, diversity and inclusion." In 2020, the company employed around 1.3 million full- and part-time employees.