A lawsuit has been filed against the bank alleging racial discrimination of African American brokers and bankers in promotion, compensation, mentoring, and other employment opportunities. The lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts federal court and claims Bank of America gave African American brokers and bankers inferior positions and less favorable assignments than given to their white counterparts.
The lawsuit also alleges the Bank of America Investment Services unit engaged in "racial steering" by effectively assigning teams of minority brokers and bankers to territories populated by minority households that have lower net worth than the non-minority households steered toward white brokers and bankers. The lawsuit, which has yet to seek class action status, purports to cover people who worked as bankers or brokers at Bank of America from April 2003 to present.