BUSINESS FOCUS
? ?
Briefs
Allstate Corp. settles lawsuit
over racial discrimination
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Allstate Corp. said
Friday it has settled a class-action lawsuit over alle
gations it charged blacks and Hispanics higher rates
for auto and homeowner insurance by basing prices
on information from credit reports.
Customers who were overcharged will be able to
seek payment. Allstate agreed to disclose and change
some of its pricing formulas and tell minority cus
tomers how to improve their credit ratings.
A spokesman for Allstate?the second-largest U.S.
personal-lines insurer, said the company didn't dis
criminate based on race.
The company can't yet estimate the cost of the
settlement, but it won't be significant, said
spokesman Michael Trevino.
A federal district court judge in San Antonio gave
his preliminary approval to the deal on Friday.
The case was filed in 2001 on behalf of six cus
tomers who said their civil rights were violated
because Allstate charged them higher premiums by
using information from their credit reports.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said there had never
been a verdict or settlement that forced an insurer to
change the way it uses credit reports in setting poli
cy prices-.
The settlement calls for Allstate to change its
insurance-scoring algorithm and giVe customers a
chance to have their policy'priced using the new for
mula. The company will also offer a system for cus
tomers to appeal for rate reductions if they experi
ence extraordinary events that hurt their credit histo
ry
Allstate will begin sending out notices of the set
tlement to customers next month, Trevino said.
The plaintiffs sought to represent all blacks and.
Hispanics nationwide who bought policies from
Allstate-affiliated companies.
Purcell joins foundation
The Winston-Salem Foundation has named Lisa
P. Purcell as executive vice president. The newly
created position will oversee internal operations of
the Foundation. Purcell joins
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tory of successful leadership
and the development of highly
effective teams.
Purcell is the former vice
president of consumer market
ing of Sara Lee Underwear and
Sleepwear. She has lived in
Winston-Salem community
since 1993, when she joined
the Sara Lee Corporation, and
rurceu has held numerous senior man
agement positions. Previously,
she held various managing roles with Pepsico. She
received her M.B.A. from the University of North
Texas and a B.A. from the University of Georgia
"The creation of the executive vice president
position is an important step in our current seven
year strategic plan." noted Scott Wierman,
Foundation president. "The Foundation's plan steers
us in the direction of continued community leader
ship and asset growth. In order to accomplish these
things, we realized that we needed someone manag
ing the internal day-to-day operations so that 1 can
focus on the Foundation's engagement in the larger
community."
While Purcell will focus her expertise on the
internal operations of the Foundation, Wierman will
focus his attention on the Foundation's external rela
tionships. His time will be spent moving forward the
Foundation's strategic plan in community leader
ship, asset development, and board development.
Food Lion Charitable
Foundation awards grant
The Food Lion Charitable Foundation, Inc. has
awarded the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in
Belmont a $3,250 grant for the "Incorporating
Disability Support" Program.
To be more inclusive to our disabled. DSBG
will create a culture of inclusion for children, mem
bers and visitors with disabilities. With this grant
award DSBG to be able to meet a growing demand
for improved services and accommodations, includ
ing providing handicap access to the front doors of
the DSBG Visitor Pavilion.
"DSBG is very appreciative of this grant." said
DSBG Director of Development, Penelope A.
Wilson. "These funds will definitely aid in renovat
ing our Visitor Pavilion doors and for providing
educational programs for our staff in relation to
providing better services to the disabled.
Salem gets $1,000 RJR grant
Salem Academy and College has received a
$1,000 Community Involvement Plan grant from
R J. Reynolds Foundation for wireless access for the
Salem Academy library or recreation room.
The plan provides financial support for selected
projects in organizations where RJR employees vol
unteer or serve in other ways. Charles A. Blixt. exec
utive vice president and general counsel for RJR rec
ommended the grant. Blixt has served on the Salem
Academy and College Board of Trustees since 2001
and spent four years on the Board
of Visitors ,
Under the R.J. Reynolds Foundation plan, non
profit organizations can receive up to $250 per year
from one employee's recommendation, and up to
$1 ,000 annually on behalf of all employee requests.
The R.J. Reynolds yearly Community
Involvement Plan grants averages over $100,000
annually on behalf of its employees in North
Carolina's Piedmont Triad Region.
Bass helps League with business vision
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Philanthropist Marshall Bass,
a member the newly-formed
Winston-Salem Urban League
Business Council, is assisting in
organizing
ine coun
cil's first
meeting.
The
Business
Council
will partner
with the'
Wi n ston -
Salem
Urban
Grandbtrry League in
carrying
oul it's mission "to empower
communities and change lives."
The council will provide techni
cal support, expertise and input in
developing a workforce that is
ready for today's employment
environment.
Bass and Keith Grandberry.
Urban League President/CEO,
File Photo
Former business executive Marshall Bass.
will lead the council's first busi
ness community luncheon meet
ing June 16 at 1 p.m. at the Urban
League, which is on the corner of
Trade and Fifth streets. Issues
pertinent to today's business com
munity will be discussed at the
meeting.
The Urban League already
runs a popular employment train
ing process, which ensures that
trainees are prepared for emerg
ing trends that require new skills
sets and different levels of expert
ise and experience. The League
plans to expand these services by
implementing strategies to signif
icantly strengthen both the num
bers and the capabilities of the
Triad workforce.
The Urban League has trained
and accessed more than 1 .500 job
seekers since January. Each of
these job-ready applicants has
completed the Ltague's new cer
tification process, which includes ,
an assessment of the skills and
experience of each individual.
Having worked as an elected
executive officer of a Fortune 500
company and as a consultant for
various other corporations, Bass
knows that a community grows if
the workforce is diverse, motivat
ed and trained.
For more information about
the event, call Lois Turner at
(336) 725r5614.
Beside Himself
Photo courtesy of Black Enterprise
Black Enterprise founder Earl Graves Sr., stands beside a wax likeness of himself that was unveiled
recently at the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Mew York. Graves joins other black legends
such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Hon. Thurgood Marshall and civil rights legend
Rosa Parks in the museum.
Bank honors local teacher for service
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE : .
RBC Centura recently honored Melanie Messick, a teacher at Meadowlark Elementary School in- Winston
Salem. with a $500 award as part of its third annual Tribute to Teachers program. The program works in partner
ship with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to recognize 25 elementary and middle school teachers who demon
strate exceptional community leadership throughout the Southeast.
"DHr r pntnra ic ?
excited to award Melanie
with $500 of 'Classroom
Cash' as part of the
Tribute to Teachers con
test," said Charles
Frederick. RBC Centura
regional president. "Her
outstanding leadership
and. passion for teaching
provide inspiration to all
students and teachers.
RBC Centura shares
Melanie's commitment to
education, and we are
pleased to invest in the
future of our children."
Messick was selected
from more than 1 .600
nominees throughout the
Southeast. As an art
teacher, she teaches more
than 650 students from
kindergarten to fifth
grade to love and appreci
ate the arts. She also \feianie \feSsick, from left, with Valerie Parker, a RBC Centura Support
serves on the Winston- Specialist of Personal & Business Banking.
Salem/Forsyth County y J
School System Advisory
Committee and volunteers at Forsyth Medical Center.
In total. RBC Centura has donated $12,500 this year to be used toward the purchase of classroom learning tools
through this program. To view a complete list of the 25 honored teachers, please visit the bank's Web site at
www.rbccentura.com.
In addition to Tribute to Teachers, RBC Centura partners with Communities in Schools (CIS) to actively spon
sor important academic programs. RBC Centura challenges communities to support CIS by making individualdona
tions to help keep kids in school through the RBC Centura Invest in Success campaign.
Minorities
pay higher
t?
mortgages
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE - Black and
Hispanic home buyers ate (pore
likely to pay high mortgage rates
than white borrowers with simi
lar credit ratings and income lev
els, an advocacy group found.
The Center for Responsible
Lending said either loan sellers
are charging higher rates to the
minority customers or those bor
rowers . _ ,
are being
steered to
loan sell
ers that
specialize
in higher
rates.
Using
an indus
try data
base, the Shelton
Durham
based nonprofit center compared
credit scores, down payments
and other financial information
on about 177 ,000 loans made in
2004 by "subprime" lenders -
companies that charge higher
interest rates than banks. The
lenders provided the borrowers'
income and race.
The study, released last
week, found that blacks were 29
percent more likely to pay a high
interest rate on a fixed-rate home
purchase loan. A Hispanic bor
rower also was more likely to
pay a high rate, it found.
"African Americans and
Latinos are paying a premium
for home loans because of the
color of their skin," said Hilary
Shelton, director of the
NAACP's Washington bureau.
The Federal Reserve Board
said last fall it had identified
about 200 lenders whose records
showed possible discrimination.
Regulators said they would look
more closely at those lenders.
The center's data did not
include all the factors used by
lenders, such as a borrower's
total debts, making the study's
conclusions incomplete, said
Doug Duncan of the Mortgage
Bankers Association. He also
questioned the ability of any
national study to prove discrimi
nation, which would require an
analysis of specific lenders.
The Charlotte Observer
reported in August that blacks
who borrowed from 25 of the
nation's largest lenders were
four times more likely than
whites to pay high rates. Even
blacks with incomes above
$100 .(XX) a year were charged
high rates more often than
whites with incomes below
$40j000, the newspaper found.