Amazon employee sues the company, alleging racial discrimination and unequal pay - CNN

Last week, Recode reported Black Amazon employees are promoted less often and receive harsher evaluations than their non-Black colleagues, citing internal data and interviews with Amazon diversity managers.

Amazon told Recode the company disagrees with the story's characterization of Amazon's culture, claiming the facts presented were "based on the views of a small number of individuals."

"Teams across Amazon have hired hundreds of thousands of Black employees and thousands of Black managers, and our retention data and employee surveys illustrate that they have similar attrition rates and greater job satisfaction and feelings of inclusion than their non-Black colleagues," Amazon told Recode.

"We recognize we have work to do, including increasing Black representation at all levels, and we set — and met — aggressive goals to double the representation of Black Vice Presidents and Directors in 2020 and are committing to do so again in 2021."

Amazon has also faced criticism for attempting to delay a union vote at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, where 85% of the employees are Black, Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said last month.

Regarding the union effort, Amazon spokesperson Heather Knox told CNN Business in January that "we opened this site in March and since that time have created more than 5,000 full-time jobs in Bessemer, with average pay of $15.30 per hour, including full healthcare, vision and dental insurance, 50% 401(K) match from the first day on the job; in safe, innovative, inclusive environments, with training, continuing education, and long-term career growth."