A class action lawsuit accuses Citibank of allegedly discriminating against people of Armenian descent, allegedly claiming the lender has labeled Armenians as "bad guys" at greater risk of committing credit card fraud.
"In what is the equivalent to financial institutions’ discriminatory practice of 'red-lining' in denying mortgages to African-Americans in the mid-20th century in the United States, Citi has expanded on this disgusting financial practice to 'red-line' credit cards to those of Armenian national origin or heritage," states the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiffs Mkritch Daibyan, of Van Nuys, and Rebeka Grigoryan, of Glendale.
Citi employees allegedly screened credit applications for last names ending in “-ian” or “-yan," which are allegedly more likely to be Armenian surnames, the suit alleges.
"Citi employed this discriminatory policy in a perverse effort to try to reduce its risk of credit fraud, by effectively
labeling those of Armenian heritage as credit risks or 'Armenian bad guys'," the lawsuit states.
"This ethnically discriminatory policy more frequently denied credit to applicants and/or had credit revoked based on Armenian national origin or heritage as compared to other similarly situated applicants and has no legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for this practice," the lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs seek economic, monetary, consequential, compensatory, or statutory damages "whichever is greater," plus attorney fees and court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Ara Jabagchourian, of the Law Offices of Ara Jabagchourian P.C., of San Mateo.
Daibyan v. Citibank N.A., U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 2:23-cv-09962