Financial technology company PayPal (PYPL) is being accused of racial bias against Asian Americans in a new lawsuit.
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In a New York City court, an Asian American businesswoman named Nisha Desai has accused PayPal of racial bias for restricting a $535 million investment program to Black and Hispanic applicants, costing her millions of dollars as a result.
The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Desai’s venture capital firm called Andav Capital and is part of a growing push among some conservatives to halt diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the business community.
Exclusionary Practices
In her lawsuit, Desai says she was eager to apply for PayPal’s investment program that was launched in June 2020 to support minority-owned businesses and help address economic inequality. However, Desai found out that the focus of the program, which PayPal invested $100 million in, was venture capital firms led by Blacks and Hispanics rather than Asians.
Desai has accused PayPal of violating the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1866, which bars racial bias in contracting. She is seeking unspecified damages and to ban PayPal from considering race and ethnicity in future investment programs.
PYPL stock has increased 50% in the last year.
Is PYPL Stock a Buy?
The stock of PayPal has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among 29 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 15 Buy and 14 Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average price target on PYPL stock of $91.08 implies 3.97% upside from current levels.
