Idempotent-Conjugate Monoids with Nilpotent Unit Groups

Let M be a finite monoid with unit group G such that J-related idempotents in M are conjugate. If G is nilpotent, we prove that the complex monoid algebra CM of M is semisimple if and only if M is an inverse monoid. Conversely let G be a finite group such that for any finite idempotent-conjugate monoid M with unit group G, CM semisimple implies that M is an inverse monoid. We then show that G is a nilpotent group.