5 women who worked in corporate or warehouse management roles files cases against Amazon.in on the grounds of racial and gender discrimination.

A diverse group of women, aged 23 to 64, each alleged they faced retaliation from their white managers for complaining about the sexual harassment and discrimination faced.

Two Black plaintiffs, one Latina, one Asian-American, and one white, each filed their lawsuit in federal courts in Arizona, California, Delaware, and Amazon’s hometown of Seattle, accusing Amazon of favouring men over women in career growth, allowing supervisors to denigrate them, and retaliating after they complained.

• Wednesday’s plaintiffs include Cindy Warner, a gay executive in that unit, alleged in their suit that they were subjected to verbal and gender discrimination by white male managers including being called a “bitch,” and “idiot,” and a “nobody." They also mention being prohibited from applying for a higher position and that Amazon terminated their job in retaliation for complaining.
• In another lawsuit, Pearl Thomas, 64, a Black Human Resources employee, alleged that her white male supervisor muttered the N-word before hanging up on a virtual meeting. Thomas also claimed that she and another Black female employee were told by an Amazon general manager that “You don’t want to be an angry Black woman.”
• Another woman, Diana Cuervo, a Latina, and former manager in an Amazon warehouse said that she was subjected to repeated racist remarks. She alleged that her male manager used racial epithets saying, “Latins suck,” “How is a Latin like you working here?” and, “You are a Latina woman, I need to be careful every time I talk to you.”
• A fourth woman, Tiffany Gordwin, 38, a senior human resources specialist, a black woman alleged that she was treated like a “second-class citizen” by the majority of her white supervisors and was rejected for promotions in favour of her white male peers.
• The fifth woman, Emily Sousa, 23, a shift manager at Amazon's facility alleged that her manager attempted to cultivate a sexual relationship and on rejecting his advances was demoted and sent to another warehouse. She also said that her manager made her the “target of constant harassment.”

Jaci Anderson, Amazon spokeswoman, in a statement, disputed the claims in all five of the new lawsuits saying, “We are conducting thorough investigations for each of these unrelated cases, as we do with any reported incidents, and we have found no evidence to support the allegations.”

In April, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said his company needed to take care of employees better and Amazon said it wanted more Blacks in senior and corporate roles.