A living accountability index
Search a company or public figure. See the concerns raised by Black communities, the reporting behind them, and what readers think should happen next.
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DOJ’s 2004 Title II case alleged discrimination against Black customers; press later reported a separate $8.7 million private settlement.
The NBA banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life in 2014 after he told a girlfriend not to bring Black people to games.
Founder John Schnatter used the n-word on a 2018 training call, resigned as chairman, and faced a Louisville Black-led boycott.
In 2000 Aetna apologized for selling 1850s policies that paid slaveholders when enslaved people died, and said it would not pay reparations.
In 2013 CFPB and DOJ ordered Ally to pay $80 million plus an $18 million penalty over auto-loan pricing that harmed Black, Hispanic, and API borrowers.
DOJ alleged Ameris redlined majority-Black and Hispanic census tracts in Jacksonville; a 2023 consent order required a \$5.5 million loan subsidy fund and other relief.
In 2015 HUD announced an approximately $200 million settlement resolving redlining allegations that Associated Bank underserved African-American and Hispanic borrowers and neighborhoods.
In 2016 CFPB and DOJ obtained a roughly $10.6 million consent order over Memphis redlining and alleged African-American underwriting and pricing discrimination.
Black shoppers alleged 2013 detentions after luxury buys; New York’s AG later said Barneys would pay $525,000 over disproportionate detentions.
In 2018 the NAACP and LULAC sued Capital One, alleging it redlined Black and Latino communities by closing branches while using Black celebrities in ads; the bank denied discrimination.
In April 2007 CBS Radio fired Don Imus after he called the largely Black Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos,” following advertiser and civil-rights pressure.
Colgate’s Asian Darkie toothpaste used blackface packaging and a racial slur name; it became Darlie in 1989, and in 2020 Colgate said it would further evolve the still-controversial brand.
In June 2020 Conagra began a full review of Mrs. Butterworth’s after critics said the matronly bottle echoed a mammy stereotype; the company said it intended a loving grandmother.
Jay-Z and other hip-hop artists boycotted Cristal after the house’s director said rappers’ use of the brand could hurt its image.
In 1994 Denny’s agreed to a then-record $54.4 million settlement of federal public-accommodations cases alleging Black customers were refused service or treated worse than white customers. The company settled; it was not a trial verdict.
In 2020 Dillard's paid $900,000 to settle an EEOC suit alleging it failed to promote African American employees into supervisor and manager jobs.
Dollar General paid $6 million in 2019 to settle an EEOC suit alleging its criminal background checks denied jobs to African Americans at a higher rate than white applicants. The company denied liability.
On April 4, 2007, Don Imus called the largely Black Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos”; MSNBC then CBS fired him amid advertiser pullouts.
DOJ alleged anti-Black rentals in 1973; a 1975 decree admitted no liability. Later: 1989 death-penalty ads, a birther campaign against Obama, and 2018 remarks about African nations.
Blum’s group sued Fearless Fund over a $20,000 grant limited to Black women; the 11th Circuit said it likely violated §1981, and Fearless dropped it.
A federal jury found Foot Locker liable for intentionally refusing to promote Black manager Lloyd Brown to “non-ethnic” stores; the Fifth Circuit upheld liability in 2001.
Greyhound buses and terminals were central to Jim Crow travel segregation; Freedom Riders challenging that system met violence in 1961 until the ICC banned segregated interstate facilities.
In 2019 Gucci sold an $890 balaclava critics compared to blackface, then pulled it after calls for boycotts.
In January 2018 H&M advertised a Black child in a hoodie reading “Coolest monkey in the jungle,” then apologized and pulled the product. Protests followed, including in South Africa.
In 1993 a federal judge approved an IHOP settlement paying \$185,000 over a 1991 Milwaukee incident of alleged racist service differences toward Black customers.
Reuters documented J&J marketing talc Baby Powder at Black and overweight women amid asbestos/cancer concerns; a 2021 NCNW lawsuit alleged targeted marketing without warnings.
In 2018 DOJ settled claims that KleinBank redlined majority-minority Twin Cities neighborhoods, requiring \$600,000 in subsidies and outreach plus a new branch.
Actor Rob Brown alleged a 2013 Herald Square detention after buying a watch; New York’s AG later settled with Macy’s for $650,000.
ProPublica showed Facebook advertisers could exclude users by race in 2016. NAACP and Color of Change later led a 2020 advertiser boycott. A 2022 Justice Department housing-ad settlement alleged discriminatory delivery by race and required system changes.
A 2021 TMZ video showed Morgan Wallen using the n-word; he apologized, radio and his label pulled him, and later airplay returned.
MSNBC dropped its Imus simulcast on April 11, 2007, after he slurred the Black Rutgers women’s basketball team and NBC employees and advertisers revolted.
New York Life acknowledges its predecessor insured 520 enslaved people for slaveholders in 1846–1848; the company says it is deeply sorry and ended the practice after two years.
Nivea’s 2011 “Re-civilize yourself” ad showed a Black man discarding an Afroed head; a 2017 “White is Purity” post is a separate ethnic-discrimination complaint.
In 2018 Nordstrom Rack apologized after three Black teens shopping for prom in suburban St. Louis were followed, reported to police, and stopped outside with receipts.
In a 2013 deposition Paula Deen admitted using the n-word; Food Network dropped her contract.
In a 2013 GQ interview Phil Robertson said Black people he knew under Jim Crow were “singing and happy”; A&E suspended him indefinitely over the interview.
Prada’s 2018 Soho figurines were compared to Blackface; a 2020 NYC human-rights settlement required training and a diversity officer.
In 2018 Roseanne Barr tweeted an ape comparison about Valerie Jarrett, a Black former Obama adviser; ABC cancelled the sitcom.
In 2023 Saks security in Miami falsely accused Washington Wizards GM Will Dawkins of shoplifting; the company later apologized, fired the guard, and donated to racial-justice groups.
In 2022 viral video showed Sesame Place characters appearing to ignore Black girls; the park apologized, and a Baltimore family sued seeking class status over similar meet-and-greet snubs.
Shein sold a phone case showing a handcuffed Black body in chalk outline and later used a monkey-and-banana icon for the color black—both drew backlash and apologies or removals.
Haynes v. Shoney’s was approved in 1993 as a $105 million settlement for Black workers; some press reported a larger $134 million total.
In 2004 Six Flags paid about \$5.6 million to settle claims that Magic Mountain’s anti-gang screening racially profiled Black and Latino guests.
A federal jury found Tesla liable for racial harassment of a Black Fremont worker. A $137 million award was retried to about $3.2 million; the parties then confidentially settled in 2024. California and the EEOC later sued over alleged plant-wide harassme
In February 2016 CFPB and DOJ resolved ECOA claims that Toyota Motor Credit’s dealer-markup policies cost African-American and Asian/Pacific Islander borrowers higher rates, with up to $21.9 million in restitution.
In 2022 DOJ and CFPB settled redlining claims against Berkshire-owned Trident Mortgage for about \$24.4 million, including an \$18.4 million loan subsidy fund for neighborhoods of color.
Eddy v. Waffle House alleged a 2000 refusal to serve a Black family; a jury found for the company. A $25,000 EEOC deal was franchisee East Coast Waffles.
Wells Fargo settled Justice Department allegations that it discriminated against Black and Hispanic borrowers, and Bloomberg later found a wide 2020 gap in Black refinance approvals.
Zara sold a 2013 blackface-style figurine necklace and in 2015 faced a CPD report alleging Black NYC shoppers were flagged as thieves; the company denied the profiling claims.