This past July, the company, Jersey Management Corporation (JPMorgan Chase) settled a discrimination lawsuit brought against them by the United States Department of Labor. The lawsuit charged that JPMorgan Chase discriminated against its minority employees in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Title VII is the most widely applied federal discrimination law in the country. JPMorgan Chase was one of the nation’s largest mortgage companies and also one of its largest lenders. According to the complaint, the company failed to make any changes in its lending practices after it became aware of the discriminatory acts. They continued with the same discriminatory policies even after finding out that they were engaged in unlawful conduct.
JPMorgan Chase Discrimination Lawsuit
When the complaint was filed in July, no charges had been filed against JPMorgan Chase. At that time, the company had said that it “found no evidence that JPMorgan Chase engages in discrimination.” Subsequently, the lawsuit was filed and in August the case was moved forward to a hearing before a judge.
On October 7th, the company announced that it would not be pursuing the case. The reason cited was the pending litigation. JPMorgan Chase was hit with a second lawsuit related to this matter on December 13th.
According to sources, the second lawsuit was brought by another former JPMorgan Chase employee.
The lawsuit was filed by the Black American Working Families Institute and demands that the company open a hearing into the allegations of discrimination. The suit further states that since the investigation into the first case was closed without charges being filed, JPMorgan Chase could no longer deny the discrimination. The case is expected to be heard by the end of this year.
As per several news reports, the decision of JPMorgan Chase to close the discrimination case is being appealed by the Black American Working Families Institute.
The organization has also called for a boycott of JPMorgan Chase as a way of putting pressure on the company to reverse the decision. The case has been moving slowly throughout the court system up until the present. One of the reasons for this is the sensitivity of the case considering the sensitive subject matter associated with the case. JPMorgan Chase has also hired the services of a law firm that specializes in cases such as these.
There has been a lot of negative attention directed at JPMorgan Chase due to the controversy surrounding the original lawsuit.
Naturally, any suggestion that the company was involved in discrimination has caused consternation amongst employees of the company. A number of complaints have been received regarding the decision to close the discrimination case. Some claim that the decision to close the case was made ‘without notice’, while others state that they had been informed of the lawsuit but had assumed it would not reach a conclusion. Both sides are blaming the other for stalling the case and hopes are that an appeal will clear up the confusion surrounding the case.
The original lawsuit was filed by David Pepper, a former Bank teller.
He is seeking a significant amount of compensation for past and future medical expenses, he claims to have incurred as a result of being discriminated against while working for JPMorgan Chase. A number of similar lawsuits have been filed all over the country, seeking to make the same claim.
If you are a former or current employee and feel that you might have been a victim of discrimination at the hands of the company, it may be worth your while to contact a lawyer who handles these types of lawsuits to see if you can get a case closed out.