Wells Fargo rejects Black judge from CA mortgage discrimnation case

Plaintiff's attorney says bank presumed a Black judge would not be onjective

LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2022 -- Wells Fargo's refusal on Monday to consent to the jurisdiction of a Black woman U.S. District Court judge to preside over a case where the bank is accused of improperly using race as a factor in its mortgage refinance approval process is a revelation of Wells Fargo's view of judicial objectivity, say lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

"Coming on the heels of the historic appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Wells Fargo's rejection of the handling of a discrimination class action case by a Black female judge reeks of racism," said Trent Copeland, partner at Ellis George Cipollone, the law firm representing the plaintiffs.

Wells Fargo filed its objection on Monday to the random assignment of Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore—the only Black woman currently sitting on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California—in the case of Aaron Braxton, et al. v. Wells Fargo. Westmore was appointed as Magistrate Judge in 2012, after serving 13 years as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Oakland. She received her law degree from the University of San Francisco.

The case has been reassigned to Judge Jacqueline S. Corley in the San Francisco Division. "We are pleased that we will be able to present our strong case to Judge Corley, whose participation in a cameras-in-the-courtroom pilot project will add much-needed public transparency to the important principles at issue," Copeland said.

Aaron Braxton filed this discrimination class action on March 18, 2020, alleging—both on his own behalf and on behalf of thousands of other impacted Black homeowners—that Wells Fargo systematically discriminated against Black homeowners in its evaluation of refinancing applications. In 2020—at the height of the refinancing boom, when millions of Americans benefitted from the historically low interest rate environment—Wells Fargo approved 47 percent of all refinance applications by Black homeowners (meaning that Wells Fargo rejected the majority of applications from Black homeowners), whereas all other lenders approved 71 percent of all applications by Black homeowners. No other lending institution rejected a majority of Black homeowners' applications for refinancing.

"It's more than ironic that in responding to litigation over its redlining of Black mortgage applicants, Wells Fargo sought to redline the federal court." Copeland said. "It speaks directly to the bank's treatment of our clients."