Amazon Executive Who Faced Discrimination Probe Departs

(Bloomberg) -- An executive at Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud division who faced an internal investigation over claims of discriminatory behavior is leaving the company, according to a LinkedIn post.

Joshua Burgin -- the head of AWS Outpost, which lets locations such as retail stores use Amazon’s cloud services -- departed the company for a new role, according to the note, which he posted Friday.

“I’ll be forever inspired by the passion and dedication of all the people I’ve worked with and wish to extend a heartfelt thank you,” he said.  

In 2019, a Black, female AWS employee reported Burgin to human resources over claims that he made discriminatory comments to her, according to the news site Protocol, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. At the time, Burgin reported to Charlie Bell, an influential engineering executive at AWS who departed in August for rival Microsoft Corp. 

AWS conducted an internal investigation into the claims and a resulting report recommended Burgin be fired, the publication said. Bell appealed to then-AWS Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy, who later took over for Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s CEO. Jassy ultimately intervened and prevented Burgin’s termination, according to Protocol.

Amazon told the news outlet it “conducted a thorough investigation” into the allegations and “took what we believe was the appropriate corrective action.” The company declined to disclose what action was taken. Amazon, however, disputed the claim that Jassy intervened.

“As with any disciplinary decision, as more data was presented and discussions continued, opinions on the appropriate course of action evolved,” the company told Protocol. “The final recommendation was the one ultimately pursued.”

Burgin didn’t respond to a request for comment beyond what was shared on social media. AWS declined to comment. 

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