TD Bank Must Face Claims It Discriminated Against Chinese Employees
By CU Today Staff —
NEW YORK--A federal judge in New York has allowed key discrimination claims to proceed against TD Bank in a proposed class action brought by former Chinese and Chinese American employees who allege the bank targeted them as it responded to federal anti-money laundering investigations.
U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken found the former employees had plausibly alleged intentional disparate treatment based on national origin, while dismissing their separate disparate-impact theory, according to Law360 and court records.
The lawsuit, filed in November 2025 by Andrew Wong, Ka Po Wong, Anne Louie, April Ng and Millie Su, alleges TD aggressively scrutinized Chinese employees’ personal financial transactions and fired workers even after they provided explanations for cash gifts and loans common within their families. The plaintiffs allege at least 22 employees at TD’s New York City Chinatown branches were terminated or otherwise disciplined and that all but one of those terminated were of Chinese origin, Banking Dive reported.
Oetken rejected the plaintiffs’ disparate-impact claim because they had not adequately identified a facially neutral TD employment policy or practice responsible for the alleged disparity, but he concluded the allegations were sufficient at this stage to support a Title VII disparate-treatment claim. The employees contend TD intentionally targeted Chinese and Chinese American workers to demonstrate tougher AML enforcement after regulators began scrutinizing the bank.
The employment dispute grew out of TD’s massive U.S. AML scandal. In October 2024, TD Bank pleaded guilty to federal charges related to failures in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering program and agreed to pay $1.8 billion in criminal penalties.
Originally reported by CU Today.