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The Department of Justice has launched a lawsuit over alleged discriminatory practices related to the appraisal of a Black homeowner’s property and the cancellation of her mortgage refinance application. Filed Monday, Oct. 21, in U.S. District Court in Colorado, the lawsuit accuses Rocket Mortgage , Solidifi U.S. Inc., Maverick Appraisal Group Inc., and Maksym Mykhailyna of actions that violate the federal Fair Housing Act. “This lawsuit is part of our ongoing efforts to bring an end to appraisal bias which prevent Black communities and other consumers of color from accessing credit and benefitting from homeownership,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement . “Appraisal bias exacerbates the racial wealth gap, and runs contrary to the principles of fairness, transparency and equity that we need in our housing market today,” she added. “The Justice Department will continue to hold appraisers, lenders and others...
Pioneer Opal Lee has received the keys to her new home. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, in 1939, 12-year-old Lee along with her family were removed from their home in Fort Worth, TX, by a racist white mob. “Just to know that there might be children that we could have played with, that we might have known their families,” Lee told CBS News Texas. “We just wanted to be good neighbors, that’s all.” The outlet also notes Lee never lost hope that she would one day own that very land. Her wishes would come true in January 2024 when she received a homecoming and a cquired ownership of the land that was stripped from her family. Building on this milestone, a home was recently constructed for Lee on the property, and she has received the keys to her new home. She was given the property for $10 thanks to North Texas organizations such as Trinity Habitat for Humanity and Texas Capital. Additionally, HistoryMaker Homes is credited for building the home free of charge, and JCPenney aided to...
A long-time factor for a medical test for kidney transplant evaluations has been rectified, which has lessened a massive barrier for Black patients in need of a new kidney. Previously, the eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) test that is used for kidney transplant waitlist evaluations included race and outdated studies that inaccurately showed that Black patients’ kidney function was different than other racial groups and underestimated the extent of their illness, according to ABC News. Today, race is no longer taken into consideration. This came after reassessment from the National Kidney Foundation and the American Society of Nephrology in 2020, which determined race had no connection to kidney function. As a resulted, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network enacted the update in 2023. “That really was problematic, but it was very widely accepted,” said Martha Pavlakis, former chair of the kidney committee with the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network,...
One of the major flaws of artificial intelligence (AI) is that it can reinforce racial bias. As CNN reported, the technology is based on data fed by humans, which can mean the data can be racist and biased. “Remember: AI is just software that learns by example,” Reid Blackman, author of the book, “Ethical Machines,” told CNN. “So if you give it examples that contain or reflect certain kinds of biases or discriminatory attitudes … you’re going to get outputs that resemble that.” The impact of its racial bias continues to disproportionately affect the Black community , including when it comes to resume screening. “And many employers now use AI-driven tools to interview and screen job seekers, many of which pose enormous risks for discrimination against people with disabilities and other protected groups,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in a 2021 report on how AI can worsen racial and economic inequities. Now, a recent research paper has shown another area where AI...
Racial discrimination in hiring is a barrier that many Black applicants face, especially those who don’t have “white-sounding” names. A TikToker by the name of Dee Realz is one of a few from the growing group who has stepped forward to share her experience. @dee.realz has any melanated individuals experienced this? #jobs #jobinterview #fyp ♬ original sound – Dee Realz
A former elevator worker at Tesla has 14 days to determine if he will collect $15 million for the damages caused by racial abuse while working at the company’s Fremont, California factory. According to TechCrunch, Owen Diaz was originally set to receive $137 million after the company turned a blind eye to the racial harassment and discrimination that he endured at the electric vehicle (EV) plant. After Tesla challenged the verdict brought forth on behalf of the former employee, whose race is Black, the payout was diminished to $15 million. Now, the original $6.9 million that Diaz was set to receive for compensatory damages has been reduced to $1.5 million. Punitive damages went from $130 million to $13.5 million.
A Texas telecom company just lost a $70 million federal discrimination lawsuit. Atlanta Black Star reports that Glow Networks Inc. and its parent company, CSS Corp, exposed nine Black employees — and one white employee who advocated on behalf of his Black co-workers — to what can only be summarized as a hostile work environment tinged with more than a bit of racism. And based on the facts of the case, that’s the height of understatement. “Court documents reveal there were originally fourteen members in the group suing Glow Networks, Inc., alleging that they had ‘both tangible actions, such as terminations and denials of promotions, and on the alleged creation of a hostile work environment,'” reports the outlet. Initially, fourteen employees brought the federal discrimination suit against the telecom company. However, only ten employees ultimately were awarded damages — the other four’s claims were dismissed by the court. For Yarbrough, though, it was the principle of the matter. “We...
Tesla is once again under fire for alleged racial harassment. This time, a Black gay ex-employee claims she was assaulted and verbally abused — complete with racial slurs — by a co-worker. Business Insider is reporting that Kaylen Barker — who filed her lawsuit against the company yesterday — is going after both the Elon Musk-helmed automaker and its staffing company, Staffmark. According to her suit, Tesla failed to address the racist abuse she endured every day from her fellow employees, especially after she got a promotion. She also alleges that at one point, a co-worker — whom she only identified as “Joanne” in the suit — would mutter the N-word under her breath every time Barker walked by. And when Barker brought the alleged abuse to the attention of the Human Resources department, nothing was done about it. “I was violated physically, mentally, and emotionally because I am an African American lesbian,” Barker said in a statement provided, through her attorney, to the outlet....
Meanwhile, in white America, these are the type of court cases that see the light of day. Recently a man filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired from a hospital system because he was a white man. According to NBC News, a jury awarded him $10 million for his claims. David Duvall was an employee at Novant Health, located in Winston-Salem, and, per the suit, says he was fired without cause “as a part of an intentional campaign to promote diversity in its management ranks.” And, according to him, he was fired due to both his sex and gender. On the other hand, Novant Health says that Duvall was fired for “deficient performance and the delegation of critical duties to subordinates.” “We are extremely disappointed in the verdict, as we believe it is not supported by the evidence presented at trial, which includes our reason for Mr. Duvall’s termination,” said a Novant Health spokesperson in an official statement. “We will pursue all legal options, including appeal.” Duvall, who was hired...
A federal jury in California has found that a Black ex-worker of Tesla is entitled to more than $130 million in damages and fees. According to The Wall Street Journal, Owen Diaz — who worked as an elevator operator in the Fremont, CA factory in 2015 and 2016 — was subjected to a “racially hostile work environment” during his tenure at the plant. Diaz was regularly called racial epithets at work, was subjected to racist imagery in the bathroom and elsewhere, and was also subjected to other untold horrors simply because he was Black. The crux of Diaz’s lawsuit against Tesla, however, was multi-fold. In addition to the horrific and racist treatment he was subjected to, Diaz alleged that the company not only failed to take reasonable measures against such racial harassment but also alleged that the company “was negligent in its supervision or retention of an employee, causing harm to Mr. Diaz,” per the Journal. The jury ultimately agreed with Diaz’s assessment and awarded him $130...
Tech companies such as Uber recently took a public stand against systemic racism and called out police brutality through their app’s new features, TODAY reports . However, the company’s values along with another ride-hailing company, Lyft, are being called into question after a new study showed the two companies’ algorithms charge higher rates for customers traveling to non-white neighborhoods, Salon reports . The study’s research showed a data set of over 100 million trips taken in Chicago, IL between November 2018 and December 2019 that proved while “demand and speed” have the highest correlation with ride fares, Complex reports , various forms of social bias are also present for riders traveling to and from certain neighborhoods. According to the study — conducted by researchers Aylin Caliskan and Akshat Pandey at George Washington University in Washington D.C. — research showed that the ride-hailing companies charged a higher price per mile for trips where the destination or...
Marilyn Booker was a 26-year veteran of New York-based bank Morgan Stanley , where she spent most of her time as the firm’s first global diversity chief. In December of last year, she was fired for pushing senior executives to make more opportunities for Black employees at the company, according to The New York Times . Now, she’s suing the company for racial discrimination and retaliation. According to a human resources representative at the bank, Booker was informed that her position had been eliminated and that there would be no opportunity for her to transfer to another division inside the bank, the Times reports . A note was then sent out on her behalf, unbeknownst to her, saying she “decided to leave the firm and pursue other opportunities.” Up until the very last day of her 26-year career at the bank, Booker was still going to bat for the few Black employees at the company. As a result of her termination, Booker has filed a formal lawsuit against her former employer. According...
The fight continues for Byron Allen’s lawsuit against media and communications giant, Comcast. On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed a lower court case that would allow Allen to advance one step further in his $20 billion racial bias lawsuit against the media company, The New York Times reports. Allen, a former comedian turned businessman and entertainment media mogul filed a lawsuit against Comcast in 2015 , after the company refused to carry any channels controlled by Allen’s Entertainment Studios. The grounds of Allen’s suit are based on the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a law that prohibits racial discrimination in business contracts. Despite the legitimacy behind Allen’s claims the nine justices unanimously threw out the ruling. As a result, the case was handed back over to the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal to make the decision on whether Allen’s claims that Comcast’s refusal to carry Entertainment Studios’ channels was solely based on him being Black. The...
The legalization of cannabis has sparked a once-taboo form of entrepreneurship and has since seen a 76 percent increase in the demand for cannabis-related jobs. As the cannabis market continues to bloom, people of color — who make up the majority of drug law violation arrests — are locked out the money-making enterprise. With the state of California leading the charge of the legal marijuana movement, some Black entrepreneurs still find it hard to open cannabis stores. The Los Angeles Social Equity Program (SEP) was designed to give those with low income, past cannabis-related offenses or arrests — or live in Disproportionately Impacted Areas — support in regards to owning and operating a licensed cannabis business. The program aims to empower those whose community was affected by the War On Drugs and break down obstacles that hinder entry into the cannabis business. One such obstacle is the sought after L.A. Department of Cannabis Regulation business license. According to The...