Civil Rights News: Wells Fargo Settles Discrimination Case; Wet Seal Faces Discrimination Charges; Deportation Threat to Same-sex Couples;
Compiled by Tori Kim, a Summer 2012 Leadership Conference Education Fund Intern
Wells Fargo, Justice Department Settle Discrimination Case for $175 Million
Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post
After a lawsuit filed four years ago, federal officials finally reached a settlement on the fair-lending violations perpetrated by Wells Fargo “systemic discrimination” 34,000 minority borrowers. Investigators of the case found that highly qualified Black and Latino borrowers were significantly more likely to receive subprime loans that entailed “higher interest rates and unfavorable terms” and could result in home loss. “This is a case about real people — African American and Latino — who suffered real harm as a result of Wells Fargo’s discriminatory lending practices,” said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights.
Lawsuit Claims Race Bias at Wet Seal Retail Chain
Steven Greenhouse
New York Times
Wet Seal, a popular women’s apparel retailer, faces a federal race discrimination lawsuit due to charges that the company has fired, underpaid, and held racial biases against its African-American employees in numerous store locations nationwide. Former employees in California and New Jersey share their experience of the store’s discriminatory undercurrent, recounting instances in which senior company members specifically requested regional managers to hire blond, Caucasian workers or berated them for promoting Black employees to store manager positions. Brad Seligman, the lead plaintiff lawyer on the case, asserts that the suit properly qualifies for class-action status because Wet Seal has an “explicit corporate policy that is discriminatory,” which may enable the company to follow in the footsteps of Abercrombie & Fitch, a similar corporation which overturned its discriminatory practices after a class-action lawsuit in 2003. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. is co-counsel for the plaintiffs.
Lesbian Couple Sues Over Immigration Plight
Amy Taxin
San Francisco Chronicle
Jane DeLeon, a citizen of the Philippines, filed a federal lawsuit in California for being denied legal resident status because the U.S. government does not recognize her same-sex marriage. Due to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, DeLeon, along with numerous other immigrants in same-sex marriages, faces deportation unless the law is repealed or declared unconstitutional by Congress. While a waiver application can be submitted to illustrate the hardship experienced by a family member in the absence of a foreign spouse or parent, the couple has been denied this ability because they are not considered relatives under the Act.