A Madison couple filed a lawsuit against U.S. Bank last week, alleging a Madison branch of the Minneapolis-based company denied them an account based on their Islamic faith, causing them to suffer severe emotional stress and humiliation.
Sami and Marisol Najjar, both Muslims and U.S. citizens, claim in the lawsuit that they attempted to open a joint checking account in September but were denied.
They were reportedly told that because Sami Najjar had not resided at his current address nor been employed at his job for 90 days, company policy forbade the branch to offer them an account.
His wife, Marisol Najar, was wearing a traditional Muslim head covering over her hair while inside the bank.
According to the report, Sami and Marisol Najjar were being assisted by Summer Stevens, a personal banker at the Sauk Trails office of U.S. Bank.
As Stevens was in the process of opening the account for the couple, Branch Manager Jeff Boudreau passed by the doorway to Stevens, saw Sami and Marisol Najjar, and called Stevens into the hallway, according to the lawsuit.
The couple overheard Boudreau instructing Stevens to check both Sami and Marisol Najjar’s employment and residency status and to verify their phone number, according to the report.
Stevens verified Sami and Marisol’s phone numbers, but was unable to verify Sami’s employment.
Later that day, Stevens called Sami Najar at work, telling him she had verified his employment, but U.S. Bank would not open an account because he had not been at his job and current address for 90 days.
Sami Nakkar told her that three weeks earlier, the couple had opened another account at a U.S. Bank branch in Ohio without having to meet either of the requirements.
The lawsuit states that Sami Najjar called U.S. Bank’s customer service and the Ohio branch’s manager and was told no such requirement exists.
Steven Dale, senior vice-president of U.S. Bank, declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
A message on U.S. Bank’s website from Jerry Grundhofer, president and CEO, asserts U.S. Bank’s commitment to diversity.
“We are helping to build the best communities in America … When the diverse communities we serve are strong, then we have economic vitality in the communities where we live and work.”
