BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - State Street is accused of firing a Black employee who complained that its former logo had ties to the slave trade.
State Street Corporation, State Street Bank and Trust Company, State Street Board of Directors, and Ronald O’Hanley are facing a Massachusetts lawsuit filed by former employee Michael L. Jordan. The complaint, filed March 1 in Suffolk County Superior Court, alleges racial discrimination and retaliation against Jordan, a Black Assistant Vice President at the bank.
According to the filing, Jordan began researching the history of the bank's logo following George Floyd's murder in 2020. He claims that the bank's old logo of a clipper ship had ties to the TransAtlantic slave trade.
After sharing this information with other employees, he was allegedly censured and eventually terminated.
"After the murder of George Floyd, State Street encouraged employees to talk, grieve and share with each other in an open online forum," the suit says.
"When Jordan did just that and created a groundswell of interest in and support for learning about the history of the bank's logo, detrimental slave ties to the bank's legacy/brand story and seeking transparency and truth, the bank censured him and eventually terminated him for it.
"in the meantime, however, State Street Bank changed its logo and brand because of this very issue."
The plaintiff is seeking damages for lost wages and benefits, emotional distress, and reputational harm under General Laws, chapter 151B, Section 4. Jordan represents himself.