Moody demands Fidelity Charitable comply with new Florida law after alleged discrimination
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Attorney General Ashley Moody demanded Fidelity Charitable to comply with new Florida law that prohibits financial institutions from denying services based on political affiliations, political opinions or religious beliefs.
Fidelity Charitable is a donor-advised fund provider. According to Moody’s office, there is reason to believe that the organization has gone against what it publicly claims about charitable donations and discriminated against donors wishing to give to religious groups.
The new Florida law takes effect July 1 and was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May.
“It appears that Fidelity Charitable is speaking out of both sides of its mouth,” Moody said.
Florida’s Voice reached out to Fidelity Charitable for a response and did not receive one immediately.
According to public reports, as well as reports obtained by the attorney general’s office, Fidelity Charitable has allegedly at times refused to facilitate donations.
In other cases, the company asked a donor to forego anonymity if the donor wanted to give money to religious or conservative groups.
“On one hand, they claim that they don’t decline to facilitate grants based on religious or political grounds, but on the other, they have refused to honor a customer’s wishes when the client wanted to donate to a group Fidelity disagrees with,” Moody said. “This practice not only goes against the company’s stated mission, but it will soon violate Florida law. I’m strongly urging Fidelity Charitable to ensure that this practice will not continue.”
Fidelity Charitable is one of the largest providers of donor-advised funds in the U.S. with a mission to “make charitable giving accessible, simple and effective.”
The organization claims that it does not decline grants “based on political, religious or philosophical grounds.” They also claim to protect a donor’s anonymity, according to Moody’s office.
Moody sent a letter with her concerns about the charity group to President of Fidelity Charitable Jacob Pruitt asking for assurance that they will comply with the new Florida law.
“While Fidelity Charitable’s misrepresentations to its customers are concerning enough, effective July 1, Florida law will prohibit financial institutions from denying services based on political opinions, political affiliations, or religious beliefs [.…] Since that is precisely what Fidelity appears to be doing, I ask for your assurances that you will comply with state law as of July 1, 2023,” Moody wrote in the letter.
