Bank Of America Fires Employee After Her Racist Facebook Rant Goes Viral
Bank of America had no choice but to terminate Christine Mcmullen Lindgren after she unleashed a storm of racism on her Facebook page — and the social media clapback was relentless. In an expletive-laced and incoherent post, Lindgren said she hated the networking site because of “f—ing n——rs” who use welfare that they “can’t afford,” for which she has to “pay for.”
Her full rant below:
“I hate face book for this reason you f—ing n—-rs,” the Atlanta-based personal banker wrote in her comment. “F—ing n—-rs go back to Africa get over your pity party you created this hatred and you own kind that brought you r great great parents over here.”
Shortly after the racist post, Christine had a new reason to hate the social network, because a sharp-eyed user spotted her rant and noticed she worked at Bank of America through her Facebook profile, and within 48 hours after the bank was inundated with complaints, Christine was fired. Lindgren has since deleted her Facebook account. The former Bank of America worker did not respond to the Daily News‘ request for comment.
BoA spokesman Andy Aldridge told the publication that they received thousands of online comments and complaints over the phone. Many users threatened to close their accounts with the bank after the racist post. When Lindgren’s bosses learned about the incident on Wednesday, an investigation was launched and she was fired on Thursday for her “reprehensible and unacceptable” comments, Bank of America said in a statement.
“We are aware of an unacceptable post on Facebook,” Bank of America wrote on its Facebook page. “The comments are reprehensible. We have completed our investigation and have terminated the employment of the individual who posted the comments.”
“We are working to reach out to our customers who voiced concerns over social media,” Aldridge told The News.
Bank of America was blasted by commenters on the bank’s Facebook page over deleting any posts that referenced Lindgren’s bigotry. One user said, “that was the fastest internal investigation eve, you may think deleting the re-posting of the comment on your page is saving your companies reputation, but it [actually] makes you look guilty on a higher level. Don’t try to cover up the incident – learn from your mistakes, accept them, apologize profusely, terminate the employee and don’t delete your customers comments – you’re looking [awfully] guilty.”
Bank of America Employee Fired After Racist Rant on FB Goes Viral https://t.co/lUC0O7DIh2 pic.twitter.com/FvESAOXMrM
— Lee Bailey (@eurweb) June 2, 2016
Bank of America has a history of racial issues. As the Daily Mail notes, back in 2013 the bank was ordered to pay nearly $2.2 million to 1,147 black applicants who were discriminated against at the firm’s office in Charlotte, North Carolina. A judge ruled that BoA used “unfair and inconsistent selection criteria” when it “routinely chose white applicants over black job-seekers in 1993 and again between 2002 and 2005.”
“Wherever doors of opportunity are unfairly closed to workers, we will be there to open them — no matter how long it takes,” OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu said in a statement, after the ruling. “Judge Chapman’s decision upholds the legal principle of making victims of discrimination whole, and these workers deserve to get the full measure of what is owed to them.”
Statement from @BankofAmerica on the firing of Christine Lindgren over her racist Facebook post:???? https://t.co/lYh0PNEogg
— D (@Delo_Taylor) June 2, 2016
Bank of America is not the only major bank to get caught up in a discrimination scandal against black people. Atlanta Black Star notes that JPMorgan Chase & Co., M&T Bank, Wells Fargo, Citibank, PNC Bank, and Evans Bank have all been accused of discriminatory practices.
[Image via Shutterstock]
