Trouble at the mill threatens Jeff Bezos and Amazon's reputation

The company's chief executive acted quickly to refute allegations of a brutal work environment, but maybe what his employees need is a trade union

A company's reputation is precious. Once lost, it is mightily hard to recover. Think Gerald Ratner, who once famously described the jewellery he was selling as "crap". Think BP after the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Or G4S, which seemed to have trouble preventing prisoners from escaping and bungled the Olympics security contract.

As a result, it is easy to see why Jeff Bezos, the Amazon chief executive, thought it necessary to respond speedily to a piece in the New York Times that claimed the company he founded was guilty of cruel employment practices. This was no ordinary exposi(C): the NYT piece ran to more than 5,000 words and was based on more than 100 interviews. It claimed one woman returning to work after treatment for thyroid cancer was given a poor staff review, and told the company was more productive without her.