State Supreme Court OKs Job Bias Suits by Bank Officers
The state Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed bank officers to sue for job discrimination under California law despite a federal law that gives banks broad leeway to fire their officers.
None of the justices voted to grant a hearing on an appeal by Bank of America of a lower-court ruling that allowed a fired vice president to sue under state law, which permits higher damages than federal civil rights laws. Justices Marvin Baxter and Ming Chin did not participate in the high court’s review, for undisclosed reasons.
The lower-court ruling, issued last November, now becomes binding on trial courts statewide.
The suit was filed by Virginia Marques, 57, a bank employee for 38 years, who was promoted to vice president of a Bank of America branch in Fremont in 1992.
Marques, a Latina, was fired in 1994 and claimed discrimination based on age, sex and national origin, claims the bank has denied. The suit was filed in San Francisco, the bank’s headquarters.
Her damages would be limited to $300,000 under federal law. But she sued under California’s anti-discrimination laws, which place no ceiling on damages and are more favorable to plaintiffs in other ways.
Superior Court Judge David Garcia dismissed the suit, relying on the National Bank Act, a 19th-century law that allows national banks to dismiss their officers “at pleasure.”
But the 1st District Court of Appeal said the federal law does not prohibit suits against banks under state anti-discrimination laws.
The National Bank Act did not bar discrimination suits against banks under federal law after the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, said Justice Paul Haerle in the 3-0 appellate ruling. He said there was no reason to forbid suits under state laws that promote the same goals as the Civil Rights Act.
“The congressional goal of eliminating workplace discrimination is not frustrated, but facilitated, by state anti-discrimination laws,” Haerle said.
Marques has also sued in federal court and is scheduled to go to trial in September.
