This week, after years of highly contested litigation including multiple failed attempts by Bank of America to dismiss the case, Tycko & Zavareei LLP obtained class certification on behalf of thousands of Bank customers who allege that Bank of America garnered public goodwill by widely advertising its promises to provide important bank fee refunds for consumers suffering from pandemic-related hardship but, in fact, did not do so. Instead, the Plaintiff-customers allege that the Bank quietly ended any additional pandemic fee relief early in the pandemic without telling its customers or the public. To the contrary, the Plaintiff-customers allege that the Bank kept false advertising the shuttered additional relief.
Our clients expected to obtain fee relief during the COVID-19 pandemic in light of Bank of America’s widespread marketing campaign. Yet, Bank of America never disclosed that it ended its additional relief program in August of 2020 and, to the contrary, continued to advertise it.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California certified two classes, as follows:
All BofA consumer checking accountholders in California who, from September 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022, were charged overdraft fees or insufficient funds fees by BofA after BofA promised to consider waiving such fees due to the pandemic, attempted to seek a refund based on pandemic-related reasons (as evidenced by a refund request reason code of “Hardship” or “Relationship” in BofA’s business records), and did not receive a refund for such fees.
Andrea Gold, Managing Partner of Tycko & Zavareei LLP, leads the firm’s prosecution of this class action:
“We are pleased with the Court’s order granting class certification and look forward to litigating this class action on behalf of the thousands of Bank of America customers who were promised crucial pandemic based relief from the Bank’s hefty fees but did not receive it,” said Ms. Gold.
The case is Ramirez et al v. Bank of America, N.A., Case No. 4:22-cv-00859 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Read more about the decision here: “Bank of America to Face Class Claims in Pandemic-Era Fee Case,” (Bloomberg Law, Oct. 8, 2025)