A Black senior manager at Amazon filed a lawsuit Monday against the company and some of its employees for alleged race and gender discrimination, as well as pay equity violations. She also said it was part of a broader pattern of harassment of Black employees at the tech giant. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington, DC, also details an alleged sexual assault by one former Amazon senior employee.
Charlotte Newman, who works at Amazon Web Services, alleges that she was assigned work consistent with employees in roles above the one she was hired and paid for. She also alleges that her manager told her she was “too direct” and “scary,” and that a senior employee pulled her hair and groped her.
The senior employee “felt free to sexually harass Ms. Newman and at times in plain view of others,” the lawsuit alleges.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said the company is looking into the complaint. “Amazon works hard to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture, and these allegations do not reflect those efforts or our values,” the spokesperson said. “We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and thoroughly investigate all claims and take appropriate action. We are currently investigating the new allegations included in this lawsuit.”
Newman, who was previously an adviser to Sen. Cory Booker, had earlier filed a complaint to the Washington, DC, Office of Human Rights, according to the lawsuit.