Posted on 09/08/2022 4:02:45 AM PDT by dennisw
A Black woman from Michigan says she was racially discriminated against when three employees at a Fifth Third Bank told her a casino jackpot check she was trying to deposit was fraudulent, according to a recently filed federal lawsuit.
Lizzie Pugh, 71, tried to deposit the check April 11 at one of the bank’s Livonia branches, according to the suit filed Aug. 29 in U.S. District Court in Michigan. The lawsuit said Pugh had a check in hand from the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, where she had hit a slot machine jackpot on April 9 while out with a church group.
Lizzie Pugh. (Courtesy of Attorney Deborah Gordon) Lizzie Pugh. (Courtesy of Attorney Deborah Gordon) When she arrived at Fifth Third, where she did not have an account, Pugh was told by three white female employees, her check was fraudulent while attempting to open a savings account. The employees also tried to keep the check, according to the suit, which does not name the employees.
Pugh’s attorney, Deborah Gordon, told NBC News on Wednesday the check her client tried to deposit was for about $12,000 after taxes were taken out by the casino on a $20,000 jackpot.
Pugh, according to the lawsuit, was raised in Alabama during the Jim Crow era and retired from Detroit Public Schools after 36 years.
“This is just one example of the continual hurdles and indignities that Black Americans face every day,” Gordon said.
A spokesperson for Fifth Third Bank said in a statement: “At Fifth Third, we are committed to fair and responsible banking and prohibit discrimination of any kind
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Asking for ID is racist.
YOU KNOW THAT!
doesn’t sound right ... funds from deposited checks are always unavailable until the check clears the issuing bank ... so, SOP would be to welcome the new customer effusively and explain that funds from ALL checks are unavailable until the check clears ... $12,000 isn’t even that big of a check anyway ...
She won at the slots, now she’s trying “race card” lottery.
“I doubt any bank would cash a $20,000 check from someone that was not a customer.”
they won’t cash a check like that for even a good customer UNLESS that amount of cash already exists in an existing account ...
i had a casino check for 12 grand....took 2 days to clear..
“Read the story, she was trying to open a savings account and deposit the check.”
This is her claim or her lawyer’s claim. I am sure the bank will claim otherwise. I see this as a he said, she said situation. And the bank has the multiple witnesses.
Banks are always happy to take your money to open a new account. BUT you must wait for your check to clear before you can withdraw any money. My opinion, she wanted the cash right away.
“She won at the slots, now she’s trying “race card” lottery.”
At the advice of her children and/or her church going friends who went to the casino with her as part of her church group. She’s prolly half senile or half out of it in some other ways...
The Church of What’s Happening Now~
Pastor LeeRoy (Flip Wilson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgwvSTzWF6w
This happens every day? Strange that I’ve never heard of a single other case before.
Funny video! Flip Wilson and Red Foxx. Half memorized, half improvised! No teleprompters!
April? Did the bank folks tell her about stale dated checks?
I’m white and get treated bad by my bank where I’ve banked for thirty years sometimes. Poor customer service is the way of the world now, and there is no racism element. Banks are rude to everyone.
I suspect you're right. She probably wanted to deposit $11,000 and take $1,000 in cash and the bank wouldn't do it until the check cleared.
The employees probably said something like, "We can't give you cash right now until the check clears. It's very unusual and it might be counterfeit so we have to be careful". That's much more likely than, "It's counterfeit. We won't deposit it".
facts are racist
According to the article I read, she won $20k, had income tax withheld and received a small amount of cash. The remainder she asked for a 12k check. She went to the bank to open a new account with the check funding it and the bank claimed that the check was fraudulent. They would not return the check to her when asked. She then went to Chase bank and deposited the check.
She did not claim racism but rather her daughter, upon hearing the story from her mother, did after finding that all of the employees in the bank at the time were white.
Many people want to open a new account at a different bank when they have a windfall that they don't want to mix with their day to day accounts.
I don't know that it was racism, but very bad business practic3es for the bank.
Too many questions, not enough answers!
Bingo! Exactly what they should have done. Held until it cleared, which is what banks do with most other such large deposits.
Read the article to alleviate your suspicions...
So wanting cash is a criminal act, who knew.
Having had the experience of cashing LARGE CHECKS, I have run into a bank issuing a "BANK MONEY ORDER," for the large amount, with a "LARGE FEE," also. If I remember the "Large Fee," was $50.00 (fifty-dollar's) or just a little more for the "Service."
I just love it, when other people count your money, and decide when you cross the line from just another dumb-a$$ tax-payer, to master-criminal of the world.
Yea, the "Mid-Night Banking Rules" are still in effect, so the bank should have accepted the "Deposit."
I bet that’s exactly what they told her.
The way people think today - especially the perpetually offended ones - I imagine she IMMEDIATELY accused them of calling her a liar. She assumed that since they wanted to wait for it to clear, they were declaring it a bogus check, and her a crook.
People are so self-important now that any time you question anything they say, they go ballistic and assign all kinds of motives to you. Many of us saw it coming years ago, when disagreement was labeled “hate”. It doesn’t matter what you said or what you meant, only how they “felt”.
I would not be surprised if they simply quoted bank policy to her - “We will hold this until proof of funds is confirmed, and then we’ll deposit it into your account.”
Me? You? We understand that, but we’re not looking to be offended.
ON THE OTHER HAND - I’ve encountered some pretty stupid people behind the counters of many businesses before. Those people never realize how stupid they are, so they tend to assume that YOU are, and can be very rude about it... So, there’s that.
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