Allegations of Racial Discrimination - Bank of America: Bad for America

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With control of one in five credit cards and the maximum amount of bank deposits permitted by the Federal Reserve—there’s no question that the nation’s largest bank is also its most powerful one.

In fact, with 52 million customers, more than 5,700 bank branches, and more than 17,000 ATM machines across the country, Bank of America and its products reach nearly half of all U.S. households. Bank of America by the Numbers »

Although CEO Ken Lewis claims Bank of America is committed to “creating opportunities for people…to fulfill their dreams” a growing body of evidence shows the financial giant is using its size and its power to squeeze consumers, taxpayers, and working families.

In 2006, Bank of America raked in $21 billion in profits. Bank of America made more money from its U.S. operations than any other company—including ExxonMobil, the world's most profitable company.

Allegations of Racial Discrimination

Under Fire for Discriminatory Actions

Bank of America has come under fire for charges of racial discrimination—against employees and consumers alike:

In May 2007, African-American employees in St. Louis, Atlanta, and Boston brought a class-action discrimination lawsuit against Bank of America in federal court. The suit charges Bank of America with assigning African American employees to predominately minority communities because the bank says clients “are more ‘comfortable’ dealing with sales professionals of their own race.”
In April 2006, Bank of America was forced to settle with the Massachusetts Attorney General over allegations the company discriminated against Arab-American and South Asian customers. The Bank closed a number of bank accounts with Arabic names based on “suspicion of terrorism or money laundering.”
In June, 2007 Bank of America paid an undisclosed amount to settle a racial discrimination suit. A former Bank of America Vice President in Aurora, Illinois, alleged that the bank told him his position was being eliminated, but then filled the position with a white employee.

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