After a six-year-long legal dispute, Amazon has resolved its case against Carl Nelson and Casey Kirschner, two former AWS managers, who were alleged to have received kickbacks for particular data center arrangements. Both Nelson and Kirschner, as well as the Denver-based real estate firm Northstar Commercial Partners, were sued in 2020.
The two managers have since issued a joint apology, expressing remorse for not meeting Amazon’s strict ethical standards. – Getty Images, as per the original text. It was stated that the payments violated Amazon’s code of conduct and potentially damaged the company’s reputation.
Nelson and Kirschner allegedly engaged Northstar in nine separate build-to-suit leasing projects for Amazon in Virginia, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, in exchange for kickbacks referred to as “referral fees” through a trust owned by Kirschner’s brother, Christian Kirschner. The court documents revealed that these fees were calculated based on a percentage of the fees Northstar obtained from its Amazon leases.
Over $5 million was given to the trust as part of Northstar’s dealings with Amazon. The trust in turn passed money to Christian Kirschner and other parties that channeled funds to Nelson and Casey Kirschner. Amazon claimed that its expenses in these dealings were overstated to finance kickbacks, with Northstar CEO Brian Watson incorporating fees into project budgets and overestimating Amazon’s rent.
Amy Nelson, wife of the involved party, stated on TikTok that all disputes between Nelson and Amazon have been resolved. The terms of the settlement were kept confidential. The case experienced multiple judgments, with some in favor of Amazon and others against it, over time.
By 2023, a federal judge declared Amazon’s code of conduct to be non-enforceable, leading to the dismissal of majority of charges against Nelson and Kirschner. However, in the preceding year, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated several claims and ordered the case to be re-examined.
The legal battle against Northstar persists, with a trial scheduled for November 2. Further details can be found in Construction & Site Selection. 07 Sep 2026.
18 Aug 2026.
