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A Black job applicant is seeking $5 million in federal court from Sallie Mae, alleging that when the bank asked about criminal histories for prospective employees, it practiced a form of racial discrimination.

Willie Gilder, of Middletown, whose offer of employment with Newark-headquartered Sallie May was rescinded in 2017 and who was granted a right to sue notice by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year, is seeking class certification for his lawsuit filed Wednesday in the District of Delaware, which he says is representative of policies that have disparately affected African American applicants.

According to the complaint, Gilder applied for a job as a collector with Sallie Mae in September 2017. The following month, he was interviewed and offered the job via a letter stating his employment, tentatively scheduled to start that November, was contingent upon him passing a background check.

After the background check was completed, Gilder reportedly gave Sallie Mae court documents showing that an earlier drug-related arrest, which did not result in his conviction, had been expunged from his record. In December, Sallie Mae sent Gilder a letter saying his employment had been terminated. Gilder, according to the complaint, found Sallie Mae had reported to the Department of Labor that that decision was made based on a manslaughter conviction from 25 years earlier.

On July 5, 2018, Gilder filed a charge of discrimination with the Delaware Department of Labor, which issued a preliminary report in April 2019. A year later, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Gilder a right to sue notice. His complaint filed this week asserts Sallie Mae's "discriminatory background check policy and practice" is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The complaint argued Gilder's manslaughter conviction had no effect on his ability to perform tasks associated with the job he was offered. His suit is filed both as an individual and as a class action on behalf of all Black persons who were hired or offered employment with Sallie May but whose employment status changed based on their race and Sallie Mae's policies involving background histories.

In moving for class certification, Gilder's attorney, Michelle D. Allen of Allen & Associates, wrote in the complaint that Gilder's experience with Sallie Mae qualifies as racial discrimination because the company's use of background histories as an isolated factor in making employment decisions has adversely affected Gilder and other African American people across the United States, "importing the racial disparities in the criminal justice system into the employment process."

"Sallie Mae Bank's policy and practice of disqualifying job applicants with convictions from employment has a disparate impact on plaintiff and the class and is neither job related nor consistent with any business necessity," Allen wrote.

Allen did not immediately respond for comment on the case Thursday, and Sallie Mae had not reported having legal representation.

An email from Sallie Mae's press office said the company would not comment on pending litigation.

In addition to consequential, nominal and other damages, Gilder is requesting a jury trial and for a court to declare Sallie Mae's criminal background policies to be in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.