Federal regulators dished out a double dose of enforcement today by taking action against Fifth Third Bank for allegedly charging higher interest rates to minority borrowers for car loans and deceptively marketing credit card add-on products to bank customers. [More]
discrimination
NJ-Based Bank Must Pay $33M To Settle Discriminatory Lending Charges
By 9.24.15
“Redlining” is the act of denying services, either directly or through selectively raising prices, to residents of a certain area based on race or ethnicity. Federal law prohibits creditors from this type of discrimination, but New Jersey-based Hudson City Savings Bank is now on the hook for a total of nearly $33 million for allegedly providing unequal access to credit in parts of four states. [More]
Whataburger Employee Refuses To Serve Police Officers, Gets Fired
By 9.16.15
If this is a fast-food trend, it’s one that deserves stern disapproval from both a human and a business perspective. A few weeks ago, an Arby’s employee reportedly refused to serve police officers food. Now after a Whataburger employee reportedly told two cops that the restaurant wouldn’t serve them, the company has apologized and says that the employee who refused the cops has been fired. [More]
Pennsylvania “Gentleman’s” Barber Shop Fined For Refusing To Cut Woman’s Hair
By 9.8.15
It’s perfectly legal to advertise your establishment as a place where “gentlemen” might like to go, but one Pennsylvania barber shop found itself in hot shaving water when a woman claimed she was turned away for a haircut. [More]
Pitfalls Of Big Data: Test Prep Company Charges By Geography, Ends Up Charging More By Race
By 9.3.15
Many teenagers’ parents want to give their kids every possible advantage when it comes to the SATs. They pony up a few thousand dollars and buy Junior a test-prep course. It’s expensive, but at least it’s the same kind of expensive for everyone, right? Well, no, it’s not. And worst of all: there sure is an awfully high correlation between the race of the family doing the buying and the price that they get charged. [More]
Target Must Pay $2.8M To Settle Claims Of Unfair Hiring Practices
By 8.24.15
Target Corp. must pay $2.8 million to settle allegations that thousands of people lost out on a chance to be employed by the company because of certain discriminatory pre-employment assessments. [More]
Two Men, Two Colostomy Bags, Two Shoplifting Accusations, Three Steaks, One Arrest, One Apology
By 8.13.15
Two men on different continents who have similar medical problems and have undergone the same surgery, and recent trips to these ended poorly for both of them. They both have colostomies, and store employees mistook both of their bags for stolen merchandise and became suspicious. The difference: one of them men was allegedly trying to leave the store with $75 worth of steak stuffed in his colostomy bag, and the other was innocent. [More]
Honda Finance Unit Must Pay $24 Million For Charging Higher Interest To Non-White Borrowers
By 7.14.15
Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, creditors are prohibited from discriminating against loan applicants based on race or national origin. But that was a rule Honda’s financing unit allegedly violated, resulting in thousands of African-American, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific Islander borrowers paying higher interest rates than white borrowers for their auto loans. Now, as part of a settlement with federal regulators to resolve allegations that the company allowed discriminatory loan pricing, the company must provide $24 million in restitution to borrowers. [More]
Walmart Worker Suing Retailer Claiming Its Previous Benefits Policy Discriminated Against Same-Sex Couples
By 7.14.15
A Walmart employee who married her wife before the company changed its policy to extend health insurance benefits to same-sex couples is now suing the retail giant, claiming it violated gender discrimination laws. [More]
Former CVS Workers Claim They Were Told To Watch Minority Shoppers In Some NYC Stores
By 6.4.15
Four former CVS workers have filed a federal lawsuit against the company alleging that their supervisors ordered them to keep an eye on minority shoppers in some New York City stores, even when there was no indication that those targeted customers might steal. [More]
Uber Claims Disability Laws Don’t Apply To Technology Companies
By 5.22.15
Uber’s massive fleet of cars don’t belong to the company, and its drivers aren’t employees. Does that mean that they aren’t a public service, as other transportation options are, and that they don’t have to follow federal or state laws that require buses and taxis to accommodate everyone. [More]
Uber Won’t Allow Drivers To Discriminate Against Gay Passengers Even If A State Law Allows It
By 4.16.15
Even as lawmakers in Oklahoma sign off on a ridesharing service bill that removes protections for gay and transgender passengers, Uber has made it clear that changes to state laws will not alter its anti-discrimination policy. [More]
NYC Commission: Apartment Building’s Policy Barring Lower-Paying Tenants From Gym May Be Discriminatory
By 4.3.15
Rent-regulated tenants living in an apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side have complained that its policy of only allowing market-rate tenants — who pay higher rents — to use the on-premises gym. The practice of keeping out those rent-stabilized tenants, who are mostly over 65, may constitute age discrimination, according to New York City Commission on Human Rights. [More]
Man Claims Restaurant Told Him To Leave Because He Has Facial Tattoos
By 3.10.15
A Houston man says he was refused service at a local restaurant because the establishment has a policy barring people with facial tattoos, linking the ink with gang activity in the area. But he says he’s just a person, same as everyone else. [More]
Bank Of America To Pay $155K To Settle Claim It Discriminated Against Hearing-Impaired Customer
By 3.3.15
Financial institutions have a somewhat checkered past when it comes to accommodating consumers with hearing disabilities. There was Citibank’s demand that a hearing-impaired customer call them to clear up a suspicious transaction only to be hung up on repeatedly or there was the Chase rep that didn’t think deaf people could have credit cards. Now this week, Bank of America agreed to settle allegations it denied a loan modification after ignoring a customer’s request that the bank email her rather than force her to talk on the phone. [More]
State Says Bakery Discriminated Against Same-Sex Couple By Refusing To Make Wedding Cake
By 2.3.15
Two years after an Oregon bakery refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries says the business discriminated against the two women and as such, will have to pay up to $105,000 in fines. [More]
Asian-American Sephora Customers With Closed Accounts File Discrimination Lawsuit
By 11.19.14
A few weeks ago, we shared with you the claims of some loyal Sephora customers who found that their accounts for placing online orders (and more importantly, for collecting rewards points) had been shut down. While Sephora claimed that account shutdowns were aimed at people buying large amounts of makeup to re-sell, customers complained that the only thing the company looked at was whether a given customer had a Chinese surname. Now customers living in the United States whose accounts were closed are filing a class action suit against the company. [More]
Jury Orders AutoZone To Pay Former Employee $185M For Pregnancy Discrimination
By 11.19.14
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Pregnancy Discrimination Act forbids companies from discriminating against employees based on pregnancy when it comes to any aspect of employment including hiring, firing, promotions and demotions. So when a former employee accused AutoZone of illegally demoting and then firing her after she became pregnant, the woman sued the company. And this week a California jury ruled in her favor, ordering the auto parts retailer to pay her $185 million. [More]
