The Department of Housing and Urban Development has reached an agreement with Citizens Bank to settle allegations that the bank discriminated against a woman on maternity leave.
Per the agreement, Citizens Bank will pay the woman in question $40,000 and make a $75,000 donation to a HUD-approved fair housing or advocacy organization. The bank will also provide training to its staff on fair housing matters and adopt a policy to clarify that all loan products are available to an applicant regardless of their parental status.
"The fact that a woman is on maternity leave should never be the sole reason that she is denied a loan," Gustavo Velasquez, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said in a news release Friday.
"HUD is committed to continuing to enforce fair housing laws and to ensuring that lenders understand their responsibility to treat all qualified applicants the same, even those that are on parental leave."
The case arose when a woman filed a complaint with HUD that Citizens delayed the processing of her loan application because she was on maternity leave, even though she was receiving full pay at the time.
In recent years, numerous lenders have paid fines for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act related to maternity leave, including
