Internal Crisis

Amazon has an internal crisis on its hands. It appears some of its employees have been selling confidential inside information to companies seeking to improve their sales and making offers to delete bad reviews of products. The company has launched an investigation and stated that what might be happening is strictly against its rules. If so, the errant employees have hurt credibility and fairness and deserve to be dismissed and/or prosecuted. Amazon is too big and important a retailer to have its trustworthiness impugned. If the issue is pay — employees acting out of bounds because their compensation is too small — part of the problem lies with Amazon itself. The company ought to be paying more to deter illegal freelancing. It is well known that it drives its warehouse employees hard and pays them relatively poorly. Amazon should mete out punishment, but it also should take a look at itself and its procedures.