Nationwide — Chidozie Okike and two of his members of the family, Renda and Amanda, have filed a lawsuit within the Circuit Court docket of the Eighth Judicial Circuit towards Campus USA Credit score Union, alleging racial discrimination, intercourse discrimination, nationwide origin discrimination, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional misery, defamation, and unfair lending practices. The plaintiffs are in search of $90 million in damages.
The criticism particulars an incident on March 30, 2024, during which the plaintiffs allege they had been unlawfully denied a private mortgage at Campus USA’s Newberry department and subjected to humiliating therapy based mostly on race, nationwide origin, and intercourse. The swimsuit additional alleges that Campus USA staff made false and defamatory statements to regulation enforcement, resulting in an unwarranted police welfare verify on the plaintiffs’ house and subsequent collateral injury to Mr. Okike’s parental rights in an ongoing custody case.
In response to the submitting, the Alachua County Equal Alternative Workplace investigated the matter and, on March 10, 2025, issued a Closing Investigative Abstract concluding there was cheap trigger to imagine that Campus USA violated the county’s Human Rights Ordinance. The report allegedly discovered inconsistencies within the credit score union’s explanations for denying the plaintiffs’ mortgage software and decided {that a} racially biased name to regulation enforcement supported an inference of disparate therapy.
The plaintiffs declare the incident induced extreme emotional misery, humiliation, reputational injury, and monetary losses, forcing them to safe higher-interest credit score elsewhere. Additionally they allege the financial institution’s false statements had been later weaponized in household courtroom proceedings.
The lawsuit calls for:
• $90 million in compensatory, punitive, and reputational damages• Damages for interference with baby custody proceedings• Further aid as deemed correct by the courtroom
“Campus USA’s actions have devastated our household, harmed our reputations, and created long-lasting emotional trauma,” mentioned the plaintiffs in a joint assertion. “We’re in search of justice not only for ourselves, however to make sure that no different household is subjected to discriminatory therapy when in search of primary monetary companies.”
The plaintiffs are represented by Nichelle Lynn Womble, Esq. of Amethyst Regulation Group, Tampa, FL.
For press inquiries or media interviews, contact Nichelle Lynn Womble, Esq., Amethyst Regulation Group, at (844) 482-1239 or nichelle@amethystlawgroup.com
