Lawsuit accuses Amazon of ‘systemic’ racism in corporate offices

Amanager at Amazon.com Inc sued the online retailer for discrimination, saying it hires Black people for lower positions and promotes them more slowly than white workers, and that she was subjected to harassment.
The lawsuit from Charlotte Newman, a business development head at Amazon Web Services who is Black, said the company suffers from a “systemic pattern of insurmountable discrimination,” despite its pledge to fight racism and statements of solidarity from Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos.
Seattle-based Amazon had no immediate comment. The complaint was filed in Washington, D.C., federal court.
Newman, a Harvard Business School graduate and former adviser to U.S. Senator Cory Booker, said Amazon delayed by 2-1/2 years her rise to senior manager by hiring her in 2017 for a more junior role for which she was overqualified, a “de-leveling” that reduces awards of company stock.