Chicago Man Alleges Racism, Redlining In Federal Civil Lawsuit Against U.S. Bank
A Black former employee of US Bank who worked for the company for two dozen years, is suing them, alleging racism and the practice of discriminatory redlining.
John Span, 55, stated in his federal lawsuit that co-workers used racial slurs like the n-word but he also accused the company of purposely not giving loans to African-Americans and Hispanics.
Span claims, depending on the applicant’s last name, loans were denied regardless of their credit score, “If the name sounded Hispanic or if the name sounded Muslim, they would turn that deal down or wouldn’t even look at that deal.”
“They institutionally created a system and allowed the management of this group to create a system that allowed other underwriters across the Chicagoland area and across the country to avoid approving loans to minorities,” Span’s attorney Haskell Garfinkel said in a statement.
Span says the racist comments from co-workers began five years ago when a manager stopped by his desk every Friday with the comment, “Don’t beat your wife. And don’t go to jail.” He also claims he was the only Black underwriter.
When he raised concerns to supervisors, Span says he got no results and actually became a target when a new manager took over in 2018.
“I was set up,” Span said, according to CBS Chicago.
After being fired a year ago, Span is suing U.S. Bank and says his claims go beyond discrimination. The federal complaint accuses Span’s manager at the bank of setting him up to fail by creating and giving him a car dealership territory encompassing Chicago’s South Side and suburbs in mostly predominantly minority communities.
