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Capitol One Bank hit with racial discrimination suit by Houston NAACP and Latin organization

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Capitol One Bank has been accused of actively discrimination against Black and Latinos in a lawsuit filed by the Houston NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), as well as a former employee, reports Houston Style Magazine. The suit alleges Capital One has engaged in a conscious and deliberate plan to close banks in Black and Latino communities while keeping banks in white communities open. The suit alleges Black and Latino customers are encouraged to use ATM cards to transact their business with the bank, which reduces the possibility of minority customers applying for mortgages, credit and traditional banking services. Black and Latino customers are welcome as “bank debit card customers only,” the suit alleges. The suit alleges Capital One is keeping its full-service banks open in white communities while closing essentially all of its banks in Black and Brown communities. The suit says: “[Capital One has set about a plan to extend banking services to minorities through a bank debit card only, while providing full-service banking services to predominately White communities. To pacify Black and Brown customers, Capital One chose popular and respected Black actors to unwittingly push Capital One’s debit cards in commercials asking ‘What’s in your wallet?’” The lawsuit goes so far as to say, “…these commercials are part of a devious ploy to hide what is really going on — Capital One is in fact telling Black and Brown communities ‘Only use our debit bank cards to bank with us since we are closing our banks in your communities!’” In the lawsuit, a former Capital One employee is named as a plaintiff. The former employee was allegedly involved in the monitoring of Black and Brown activists on behalf of the bank. The suit alleges the employee repeatedly complained to the bank that Capital One was breaking the law by discriminating against minority communities. The plaintiff is said to have lost her job because she complained about the bank’s discriminatory practices. The case is filed in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. A copy of the lawsuit suit can be found by clicking here. .

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