Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) has commissioned a racial-equity audit of its hourly workers following calls from shareholders to look into how its policies affect diversity, equity and workplace inclusion.
In a securities filing, the company said the audit will assess “any disparate racial impacts on our nearly one million U.S. hourly employees resulting from our policies, programs and practices”.
The audit will be led by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, now a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, as well as other attorneys from the firm.
Amazon said it will make the results of the audit public.
The Financial Times reported the decision to conduct an audit follows accusations from Amazon shareholders the company had put a disproportionate number of workers of colour in harm’s way in its warehouses, where injury rates are higher than the industry average.