Bank of America Fined $2.2M in Racial Discrimination Case

 LINK 

The bank must pay back wages and interest to 1,147 black job applicants for race-based hiring discrimination.

 

(Photo: Chuck Burton, AP)

 

 

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Bank of America must pay the job applicants back wages and interest
• Department of Labor finds that bank applied unfair and inconsistent selection criteria in hiring
• Bank must extend job offers to 10 individuals as positions become available

 

 

 

 

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Bank of America has been ordered to pay nearly $2.2 million in restitution for discriminating against more than 1,100 black job seekers.

Judge Linda S. Chapman of the U.S. Department of Labor has ordered the bank to pay 1,147 African American job applicants $2,181,593 in back wages and interest, for race-based hiring discrimination at the company's Charlotte, N.C., facility.

The Department of Labor's ruling awards $964,033 to 1,034 applicants who were rejected for jobs in 1993, and awards $1,217,560 to 113 applicants rejected between 2002 and 2005.

STORY: Bank of America accused of misleading investors
STORY: Bank of America to pay $39M in gender bias settlement

The ruling also orders Bank of America to extend job offers, with appropriate seniority of position, to 10 individuals included in the class action, as those positions become available.

The judge determined that the bank had applied unfair and inconsistent selection criteria in the hiring process, which resulted in the rejection of qualified black applicants for teller and entry-level clerical and administrative positions in the company.

"Judge Chapman's decision upholds the legal principle of making victims of discrimination whole, and these workers deserve to get the full measure of what is owed to them," said Patricia A. Shiu, director of the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs initiated routine compliance reviews in November 1993.

Those reviews revealed systemic hiring discrimination affecting black job seekers in the Charlotte location, and following efforts of conciliation that went nowhere, the Solicitor of Labor filed an administrative complaint against the company in 1997.

STORY: BofA settles with Fannie Mae for $10 billion

The filing stated that Bank of America had violated an executive order, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment practices on the basis of race.

Bank of America, as a federally-insured financial institution that provides a variety of services and products, is a federal contractor and falls under the purview of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

The Department of Labor alleges that Bank of America repeatedly challenged the contract compliance programs' authority.

"Our investigators and attorneys prevailed despite decades of stalling tactics," said Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith.

DOL’s ‘Major Victory’—BOA Will Pay $2.2 Million for Race Discrimination

Topic: FLSA/Wages

Bank of America Corp. (BOA) will pay 1,147 African-American job applicants $2,181,593 in back wages and interest for race-based hiring discrimination, says the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), declaring “a major victory.”

Here are some details about the BOA case and other backpay/discrimination lawsuits that sound a warning to all employers to take extra care to avoid discrimination and offer a reminder about the tenacity of federal agencies.

Suit Began in 1993!

The ruling in the BOA case awards $964,033 to 1,034 applicants who were rejected for jobs in 1993 and $1,217,560 to 113 individuals who were rejected between 2002 and 2005. It further orders the BOA to extend job offers, with appropriate seniority, to 10 class members as positions become available.

After hearing from experts on both sides, the judge agreed with the government's positions on every issue in dispute. Notably, she rejected the bank's arguments for a lower award on the grounds that they could not take advantage of missing records that they had failed to keep.

In an earlier ruling, the judge determined that the bank applied unfair and inconsistent selection criteria resulting in the rejection of qualified African-American applicants for teller and entry-level clerical and administrative positions at the company's Charlotte facility.

Case Spanned Nearly 2 Decades

“The ruling represents a major victory in a case that has spanned nearly two decades, during which Bank of America repeatedly challenged the authority of the department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs,” says the DOL.

‘Where Doors Are Closed, We Will Open Them’

"Wherever doors of opportunity are unfairly closed to workers, we will be there to open them—no matter how long it takes," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. "[This] decision upholds the legal principle of making victims of discrimination whole, and these workers deserve to get the full measure of what is owed to them."

On November 24, 1993, the OFCCP initiated a routine compliance review that revealed indications of systemic hiring discrimination affecting African-American jobseekers at the Charlotte facility. After conciliation efforts failed, the Solicitor of Labor in 1997 filed an administrative complaint against the company for violating Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment practices on the basis of race.

"Our investigators and attorneys prevailed despite decades of stalling tactics," said Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith. "This case demonstrates that the department will not be deterred in our pursuit of justice for jobseekers."

The BOA may be regretting its decision to continue to fight this battle, especially because we’re guessing that over the 20 years this case went on, the lawyers’ fees and other costs and distractions have added substantially to the total costs the BOA has sustained.