American Express hit with lawsuit alleging discrimination against white employees

0

EXCLUSIVE: A former American Express employee filed a class action lawsuit on Tuesday alleging the credit card company showed ‘ruthless indifference’ to civil rights law by firing him because he is white and because he spoke out against its “racially discriminatory” policies.

Brian Netzel, who worked a decade for Amex until he was fired in 2020, told FOX Business he sued the company on his behalf and potentially on that of thousands of other employees in the same situation following the “an avalanche of bad things coming to white people in this business once George Floyd was killed.”

The lawsuit alleges that amid racial tensions gripping the United States in 2020, Amex implemented “anti-racism” policies throughout its corporate structure that “gave preferential treatment to individuals for being black and signaled unequivocally to white employees that their race was a barrier to advancement in the company.”

Netzel said such policies foster a workplace plagued by “an enormous amount of animosity” in which white employees are unfairly punished or passed over for promotions, while some black employees are promoted simply to meet racial quotas. and employees were encouraged to “root in McCarthy fashion people of the day who disagreed with that general ethos.”

AMERICAN EXPRESS ENGAGES IN ‘REVERSE DISCRIMINATION’ AGAINST WHITE PEOPLE, SAY CURRENT AND FORMER EMPLOYEES

Netzel pinpointed the origin of these policies at the top, recalling the corporate town halls CEO Stephen Squeri allegedly engaged in “what amounted to an emotional tirade against the police, against systemic racism in the United States and the within American Express”.

“He made it clear that you had to fight this with him, or you had to find another place to work,” Netzel said of Squeri, who took over his current role at the company in 2018.

Netzel argued that this created an atmosphere in which white employees were treated disparately and forced to undergo trainings in which they were told to treat black colleagues differently.

“We weren’t allowed to talk until they were talking in a meeting,” he said. “We weren’t allowed to touch their hair,” which I thought was just unbelievable.” Netzel also noted that Squeri was open about the company’s intention to fill the company’s leadership positions. business with more African Americans.

AMERICAN EXPRESS CRT TRAINING URGE STAFF TO ADOPT A HIERARCHY, PUT ‘MARGINALIZED’ ABOVE ‘PRIVILEGED’

FILE: The logo of American Express (AXP) is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2016. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo/Reuters Photos)

Netzel alleged in her complaint that her manager, who is black, would “aggressively harass and berate white employees,” overworking them and retaliating with poor performance reviews. He also claims that Amex was aware of her behavior and that she was among the executives who received financial incentives to reduce the number of white people in her department.

An Amex spokesperson described Netzel’s allegations as “false and baseless,” telling FOX Business that the company has “a longstanding commitment to living our company values, which include promoting a diverse and inclusive culture where all colleagues can thrive.”

The spokesperson maintained that Amex does not offer any incitement to discriminatory or favorable behavior to any group of employees, and also pushed back against any claims that advancement, hiring and compensation in the company are based on something other than individual qualifications, business and leadership performance.

Actions in this article

Netzel, however, thinks Amex’s policies are racist and he hopes his class action will succeed in convincing the company to drop them and apologize to employees he says have been hurt.

“American Express has the ability to reverse its policy, apologize and heal those who have been hurt,” he said. “We don’t know if they will. But if they don’t, we’re going to expose exactly what was done there through discovery and trial, and we’re going to leave a jury and , ultimately, consumers decide.”

The lawsuit allegations echo previous allegations of discrimination that Amex has faced. In 2021, five current and former employees told FOX Business on condition of anonymity that the company engaged in “reverse discrimination” against white employees, barring them from promotions and imbuing the workplace with principles critical race theory. Amex flatly denied the charges at the time.

CRITICS SLAM AMERICAN EXPRESS CEO FOR ‘UNDERLY RACIST’ POLICIES, ‘WAKE POLICIES’: ‘WE’RE COMING AFTER YOU’

“race, sexual orientation, body type, religion, disability status, age, gender identity [and] citizenship. They were then expected to adapt their behavior in the workplace according to their position in the intersectional hierarchy.

Netzel said he was in contact with other Amex employees who are fighting similar battles, but he acknowledged that many feared the potential consequences of speaking out.

“The general tone, I think, is that most people are just afraid to take on American Express,” he said.

Netzel attorney David Pivtorak told FOX Business that white employees have been treated like second-class citizens at Amex for several years.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS

“They were subjected to seminars and training that branded them fanatics, were denied opportunities because of the color of their skin and, to add insult to injury, were punished and fired. for asking to be treated equally,” he said, adding that his firm filed the class action lawsuit “to bring justice to these workers, many of whom have been forced to choose between their principles and their means of subsistence”.

“Once the truth about American Express’ virulent discrimination is exposed in court, I have no doubt it will be a clear warning to the rest of the country about the dangers of woke capitalism,” he added.

Share.

Comments are closed.