BoA Ordered To Pay $2.2M In Racial Discrimination Case
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal judge has ruled that Bank of America must pay $2.2 million to over 1,000 black job applicants who were racially discriminated against for openings in the Charlotte area.
The Charlotte Bank was accused of denying black candidates qualified to the duties of entry-level clerical and administrative positions and teller jobs in 1993 and between 2002 and 2005. The judge said the company chose white applicants of black applicants using “unfair and inconsistent selection criteria”.
The ruling stipulates that 1,034 applicants the bank rejected in 1993 will get an average $932 out of $964,033. 113 people who were denied a position between 2002 and 2005 will get $10,775 on average out of the $1.2 million.
The Labor Department said the bank was ordered to offer employment to 10 originally turned down employees but did not disclose how these former applicants would be told.
The case has been in the legal system since 1997 because of BoA had challenged the Labor Department’s authority to follow the case.
The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Patricia Shiu said when doors are not fairly opened to workers, the agency is going to be there to make sure they are open, regardless of how long it takes.
Representatives for the agency weren’t available for comment and BofA said it’s looking over the order.
Christopher Feeney, a BofA spokesman, said the company’s core values and culture is to promote diversity. He said the company actively promotes a setting were every employee has the chance to succeed.
The ruling stipulates BofA can appeal the orders the judge gave.
This is not the first Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs discrimination allegation against a Charlotte Bank. Wachovia, in 2004, agreed to a $5.5 million settlement that it took part in pay discrimination in more than 2,000 current and former female employees.
In this case, Wachovia sent affected employees notices that asked them to fill out necessary paperwork and, in turn, sent those affected checks. The women attained both back pay and interest, from $104 to $37,922.
The BofA case dates back to 1993, when the company was called NationsBank. The Charlotte office has been chosen, under executive order, for a compliance review to ensure it was not discriminating against persons seeking employment.
The Labor Department found evidence that NationsBank had participated in discrimination against black applicants seeking entry-level jobs. Nations Bank challenged the finding on Fourth Amendment grounds, saying the agency carried out an illegal search.
Administrative Law Judge Linda Chapman, in 2010, suggested that BoA did discriminate against job candidates based upon arithmetical evidence.
The judge who ordered BofA to pay the $2.2 million said the bank did not take action to prevent the illegal behavior. She also stated there’s no evidence that suggests the discrimination is still going on.
BofA recently settled two other discrimination-related cases:
Merrill Lynch’s black financial advisors will get back $160 million from BofA after they were kept off profitable assignments and not paid the same amount as their white co-workers. The matter came before BofA took possession of the bank in 2009.
The bank also agreed to pay BofA and Merrill Lynch brokerages’ female employees $39 million after they claimed they were not given a fair opportunity in succeeding with the company.
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