Washington, DC – The Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART), a national Sikh American civil rights advocacy group calls on all Sikh Americans to participate in a national letter writing and telephone campaign protesting Fleet Bank’s discrimination against a Sikh businessman by refusing to allow him to open a CD account with the bank. “We look at the customer and then decide,” Inderjeet S. Chowdhary was told when he asked Alicia Eagleston, Assistant Vice-President, why she refused to open an account for him. Chowdhary is a Sikh American of South Asian ethnic descent and wears a turban and beard – mandatory requirements of his faith. Chowdhary’s letter regarding the incident to Fleet Bank’s customer service department was ignored. In response to Fleet Bank’s treatment of Chowdhary, SMART, is contemplating calling upon the Asian American community, including the Indian and Sikh communities, to participate in an economic boycott of Fleet Bank nationwide until his complaint is satisfactorily addressed. “Unless Fleet Bank takes affirmative steps to resolve Mr. Chowdhary’s problem, and to demonstrate their acceptance of religious and cultural diversity among their customers, we will urge Asian Americans to close their accounts at Fleet Bank and take their business elsewhere,” SMART’s Executive Director Manjit Singh said. “First, however, we will evaluate Fleet’s response to Chowdhary’s lawsuit before taking further action,” he added. SMART urges all Sikh Americans to act by calling or writing to: Anne M. Finucane Executive Vice President Marketing and Communications Division Fleet Bank 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110 Tel: 617-434-2200 or 1-800-CALL-FLEET (use talking points provided below) Email: about@fleet.com When writing to Fleet Bank please use the talking points or the sample letter provided (see below). Please forward a copy of your letter (either via email or fax # 202-318-4433) to SMART for our records. —– TALKING POINTS 1. As a Sikh American, I am outraged by Fleet Bank’s discrimination of Mr. Chowdhary. 2. In a nation where racial discrimination is not tolerated and where such discrimination is a violation of the law, why has Fleet Bank not complied with fair and unbiased practices in providing service to its customers? 3. I would encourage Fleet Bank to take affirmative steps to resolve Mr. Chowdhary’s problem in a satisfactory manner, and to demonstrate your acceptance of religious and cultural diversity among your customers. 4. I would encourage Fleet Bank to immediately review its policy and to mandate racial, cultural and religious sensitivity training of all employees, officers and agents of Fleet Bank to ensure the civil rights protection of your bank’s current and potential customers. —– SAMPLE LETTER To Whom It May Concern: It was with considerable concern that I recently learned of an incident at your Carteret, New Jersey branch involving a Sikh businessman, Inderjeet S. Chowdhary. Apparently, Mr. Chowdhary was denied an opportunity to open a Fleet CD account last year, even though he had all the necessary documents and was fully qualified to open the account. The only explanation the branch manager gave him for refusing to allow him to open the account was that Fleet “looks at” the customer, then decides whether or not to allow them to open the account. Perhaps even more disturbing than the branch manager’s comments – as disturbing as they are – is the fact that Mr. Chowdhary was never provided any explanation for the manager’s conduct. After he wrote your department a letter complaining about the incident, Fleet did absolutely nothing to acknowledge, investigate, or otherwise address the serious issues raised by this incident. This failure to even respond to Mr. Chowdhary is very disturbing, and places into question whether or not Fleet Bank is truly committed to preventing acts of discrimination within its bank branches. Fleet Bank now has a critical opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to diversity and tolerance by taking affirmative measures to investigate and resolve the issues raised by Mr. Chowdhary, and take whatever action is necessary to resolve this problem. I, along with many others, are very interested in knowing how Fleet Bank responds to his complaint. Kindly write me back as soon as possible to let me know what is being done to address this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, (signed)
