re: #396 CommonCents

Bank of America not so American…again

GAFFNEY, S.C. — The controversy about the placement of American flags to honor a fallen Marine from Gaffney could cost Bank of America some local government deposit money, and perhaps much more.

Monday night, the Cherokee County Council voted 5 to 1 to withdraw county money from any accounts held by Bank of America.

Councilman Quay Little said that totals more than $500,000, but that number could skyrocket. If all county officials close their accounts, Bank of America would lose more than $1.5 million in customer funds, Little said.

The controversy erupted last Wednesday when the body of a fallen Marine, Lance Cpl. Christopher Fowlkes, was brought back to Gaffney.

A woman claimed the Bank of America branch along the procession route would not allow her to place American flags in the Marine’s honor on the bank’s lawn. She said the bank manager removed them from the property.

Bank of America calls what happened a miscommunication about the company’s flag policy.

Fowlkes died of injuries sustained in an explosion in Afghanistan. He is the first U.S. serviceman from Cherokee County to die in action since the Vietnam War.

That will be a costly “miscommunication”