Exclusive: Complaint Filed Against Amazon Alleges Civil Rights Violations over Race-Based Sellers Program

A conservative legal and policy center has asked President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Amazon over its race-based sellers program called the “Black Business Accelerator.”

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a complaint to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on Monday, urging her to investigate the program, which has been the subject of several lawsuits since its inception in 2021. The complaint, first obtained by Breitbart News, accuses the E-commerce leader of discriminating on the basis of race, in violation of several civil rights laws and President Trump’s executive order barring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

“This is the Trump Administration’s chance to send a clear message to corporate America about DEI,” WILL Deputy Counsel Daniel Lennington told Breitbart News. “Amazon is one of the largest federal contractors in America, and President Trump made clear in his executive orders he won’t tolerate discriminatory DEI anymore.”

Amazon launched its “Black Business Accelerator” to “help build sustainable equity and growth for Black-owned businesses” and committed $150 million over four years to “help thousands of Black-owned businesses reach hundreds of millions of customers and become successful sellers on Amazon,” according to a press release. The program included strategic partnerships with the Minority Business Development Agency and the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. 

The program is explicitly reserved for black business owners, and eligible businesses “obtain several significant benefits, including a $500 enrollment credit, free imaging services, advertising credits, $1,000 in ‘Buy with Prime’ credits, and opportunities to apply to grant opportunities,” the complaint details. 

“Several small business owners have contacted WILL, hoping to challenge this program in federal court. The program, though, is designed in many ways to resist private-party legal challenges. Current sellers report to us that they are afraid of retaliation by Amazon: if they sue Amazon, they fear that their seller accounts will be terminated,” the complaint alleges.

“Moreover, Amazon imposes a strict arbitration agreement on its sellers, further frustrating legal challenges. Future sellers also face similar concerns about retaliation, and the eligibility criteria are further designed to negate legal standing by prospective sellers. Your attention to this program is therefore particularly important, as private litigation is unlikely to succeed in the short term,” it continues. 

Amazon Title VI Complaint – FINAL by Breitbart News on Scribd

The complaint suggests the DOJ use its newly created Civil Rights Fraud Initiative to investigate Amazon, a federal contractor, under the False Claims Act. Under the act, federal contractors must certify compliance with all applicable federal anti-discrimination laws.

“Whatever authorities you choose to use to remedy this explicit racial discrimination, and to fulfill your duties to enforce the Nation’s civil rights laws, we ask that you open a formal investigation based on this complaint and find that Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator violates federal law,” the complaint reads. “Corrective action should include, at a minimum, a requirement that the program be open to all businesses regardless of race, or that the program should be terminated immediately.”

When reached for comment about the program and resulting complaint, an Amazon spokesperson said the program is “no longer active.”

“After reaching our initial 4-year commitment, we integrated the learnings and best practices into our broader efforts to attract and support small businesses at Amazon,” the spokesperson said. 

The company further said that sellers can no longer apply for the program, and there is no other similar program. However, the company noted that sellers already enrolled in the program who have remaining benefits will be able to access those benefits for their remaining duration over the next few months.

Internet archives indicate that the program’s webpage was still up as of May 21, 2025, and Amazon posted a press release in February during Black History Month with a tag to the program. An Amazon sellers’ forum also shows a seller discussing applying for the program three weeks ago. The program additionally appears to still have an active portal login page.

As Breitbart News was asking Amazon about “Black Business Accelerator” webpages, one of them appeared to be scrubbed in real time. Breitbart News captured an image of the page before its removal (before and after):

via Amazon

via Amazon

Amazon still has a “Buy Black Store” and allows sellers to opt into badges that indicate their business is “black-owned” at no extra cost.

The DOJ declined to comment on the WILL complaint against Amazon.

Amazon has made headlines since the beginning of President Trump’s second term for appearing to scale back its DEI initiatives. The company still has a DEI section on its “Our Positions” page, although the current version is significantly scaled back from what it was last year.

“Amazon, the nation’s second-largest employer behind Walmart, had more than 1.5 million employees as of Dec. 31. In recent years, Amazon had pledged to double the number of Black employees in senior leadership roles and hire 30% more Black people as corporate employees in the U.S.” NBC News reported in February.