By Abby Wargo · Jun 29, 2022, 5:20 PM EDT · Listen to article
Quicken Loans and a former top banker told a federal court Wednesday they had resolved her lawsuit accusing the company of firing her and falsely claiming she'd quit after she objected to alleged race and gender bias within the company.
U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson signed an order dismissing the case after the mortgage loan provider and Keely Crimando told the court they had reached an agreement to end the suit.
Quicken Loans had asked the court in May to pause the proceedings because Crimando had filed a similar suit against it in Michigan state court in June 2021 on bias and retaliation claims under the state's civil rights law. The state suit is based on the same allegations in the federal suit, and the loan company said the state and federal claims are “mirror images.”
Crimando filed the federal suit in April alleging Quicken Loans, now known as Rocket Mortgage LLC, fired her for unspecified misconduct in February 2021 after she brought her concerns about harassment and discrimination to the company's executives. She said in her complaint Quicken Loans has maintained she quit voluntarily to try and escape the blame, all in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Crimando became concerned about workplace discrimination after she began working on a project about redlining, a discriminatory practice in which loans are systemically denied to nonwhite customers, she said in her suit. She spoke out more often about race and sex discrimination as she began to understand more about the issue, she said.
Crimando said in her complaint that during her project, she found numerous complaints of race-based inequity alleging that employees of color were disproportionately disciplined, fired and coached on professionalism and uncovered stories of men in leadership positions sexually harassing female employees, among other bias allegations.
In the days leading up to her termination, she said she discussed her internal discrimination concerns with several executives and regional managers, chiefly among them that the majority of the company's upper management were white men and that there were race- and sex-based disparities in advancement opportunities.
Crimando alleged Quicken's chief diversity officer deemed her reports unwanted because the diversity team was already handling it. She was finally fired after she confronted the chief revenue officer, and within hours of her conversation she was listed as a security risk and fired via phone call.
Counsel for the parties and a spokesperson for Quicken Loans did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Crimando is represented by Sarah S. Prescott and Nakisha Chaney of Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter PLLC.
Quicken Loans is represented by Jeffrey B. Morganroth, Jeffrey M. Thomson and Pamela K. Burneski of Morganroth & Morganroth PLLC.
The case is Crimando v. Quicken Loans LLC, case number 2:22-cv-10866, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
–Additional reporting by Ryan Harroff. Editing by Nick Petruncio.
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