Higher Standards. Discrimination.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently concluded an investigation finding that over 1,100 African-American job seekers were deliberately passed up for positions by Bank of America at various times between 1993 and 2005.  Qualified African-American applicants sought to secure entry-level administrative work and teller positions at branch locations in Charlotte and North Carolina, but were routinely turned away.  Judge Linda S. Chapman, an administrative law judge at the DOL, found that the bank applied “unfair and inconsistent selection criteria” which resulted in the rejection of qualified African-Americans.  Judge Chapman ordered Bank of America to pay a fine of $2.2 million dollars for its systematic hiring discrimination.