Black Man Goes To Deposit A Racial Discrimination Settlement Check, Faces Racism Again And Sues The Bank
A Detroit resident who had just settled a racial discrimination lawsuit against his previous employer must have thought his legal troubles were over when he went to process the checks he received, but he didn’t expect to walk right into another case.
44-year-old Sauntore Thomas entered his local branch of TCF Bank, where he had been a customer for 2 years, with a series of checks that his lawyer had delivered to him that day. He reports that when he requested to open a savings account in which to deposit them and cash part of the money, the assistant manager who served him became suspicious, told him that she would have to “call them in,” and walked away to a back room, where she instead called the police to come to the bank and question him.
Thomas and his lawyer are appalled by the bank’s extreme actions and believe that the TCF spokesperson’s version of events doesn’t check out. What happened, they believe, is what has come to be called “banking while black,” a common racial profiling phenomenon in which bank workers treat black customers with excessive scrutiny.
This Detroit man ran into one racial discrimination case after another
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Thomas told Buzzfeed News that during the confrontation, he made an effort not to become visibly upset, fearing that the situation could escalate similarly to cases in which black people have been violently restrained or killed by police. “I wanted to make sure I stayed as levelheaded as possible, because I wasn’t going to be the next person on the ground saying, ‘I can’t breathe.’”
While banks often contact the owner of a large check before processing it, Thomas’ lawyer Deborah Gordon, who provided police and the bank with copies of the lawsuit while Thomas was at the bank being questioned by the police, does not think this is what the bank did before police were called. Tom Wennerberg, a spokesperson for the bank, claimed that the checks displayed void watermarks when scanned, and that the bank was unable to reach the issuing company (Thomas’ previous employer, Enterprise) for confirmation of the checks’ validity. Police, on the other hand, stated that the bank claimed its system did not recognize the checks as legitimate because they were printed differently than Enterprise’s payroll checks.
Thomas successfully deposited the checks with no issues at a different bank where he opened an account after closing his account with TCF and proceeded to buy a 2004 Dodge Durango, as he’d previously had no car and had to walk to work. Local police stated that investigation into TCF’s report of fraud was closed quickly as there was no indication that any crime took place. Thomas has now filed a lawsuit against the bank.
Wennerberg apologized for TCF’s actions, stating the bank’s stance against racism and discrimination, and maintaining that the call was made because of Thomas’ requests and the difficulty encountered in verifying the checks. He added that the assistant manager who called the police is also black.
Commenters also aren’t buying the bank’s reasoning
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The US bank chain Wells Fargo has also come under fire a number of times for its staff subjecting black customers to unwarranted suspicion, identification checks and confiscations, and even police investigation for simply trying to cash or deposit checks. In 2019, the mayor of Mount Vernon, a town just to the north of New York City, even had police called on him by a Chase bank employee. He cited anti-black racial profiling as the cause of the incident.
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Share on FacebookSlightly off topic, but: why do anyone anywhere in the world in the year 2020 use checks? With wire transfers (SEPA in Europe) there is not a single reason. It is safer, cheaper, and more convenient.
Hi Hans - run a small company with my husband and do still have some elderly customers that prefer cheques (which we don't as it's more hassle for us). They don't have computers or mobile phones (one doesn't even use an answer phone so he's a pain to get hold of) the highest level of tech in their home is usually the TV (some still CRT). These are people in their 70-90s. Most of our customers do pay by bank transfer and we do have some very clued up older people but there are just some who are worried or scared by technology. I have one customer who is in his 50s and he will pay by bank transfer but always does test sums of 1penny first because he once paid the wrong person because of a typo in the account number and they refused to return the money. The bank wouldn't help as it was his fault.
Load More Replies...It seems as though a lot of people commenting are misunderstanding the story. Yes banks do check to see if a check is legit for a large amount. What they don't do is call the cops on what is a legitimate check. So all the people claiming it is not racist for a bank to verify a large check can you answer two questions. 1) We know the check was legit, so why were the cops called for a legit check? 2) Is it logical to assume the bank never actually tried to verify the check like they claimed, since if they did it would have been verified and thus the bank is lying? Either way it sure sounds racist to me.
This is nuts. Like some who've commented I have worked in banking and this is NOT how you deal with someone opening accounts or paying in large cheques. If they're paying in a large amount you're nice to them and if it's a new account we did KYC (Know Your Customer) which is about avoiding money laundering. NONE of this involves immediately calling the cops, checks can be made without the customer even knowing about them. It lets you treat people with the respect they deserve whilst making sure you don't launder cash for criminals. This is flat out racism, poor guy!
That's what I thought. It doesn't matter what color the manager or his employee are..they're still capable of racial profiling. I had a former friend that thought, because she was black, she couldn't possibly be racists. Then hear her negatively talk about asian and hispanic customers for being nothing more than non-black. I told her one day to pretend she was white and substitute black for asian or hispanic in things she said...then see if she thinks a black person would be offended by her words. She didn't like me too much after that.
Load More Replies...It doesn’t matter if you’re different races, in different religions, or are LGBTQ+, all people deserve to be loved and treated equally. Don’t base your judgements on prejudices or stereotypes
Sad how people even with all their experience, can't look past someones skin to see their personality
Why would she jump right to calling in the police? Talk about over kill!
Thanks, but hey, there are a lot of worse places and I am proud to be an American!
Load More Replies...At some point in our society, we are going to have to stop thinking that a person is bad just because of their race. Not all white people are members of the KKK, not all black people are gang members, not all hispanics are illegal, not all Muslims are terrorists. There is good in every race and culture and there is bad in every race and culture. The key to getting along with people is to not judge an individual because of their race, gender, ethnicity, or religion. It is time for the world to love one another.
Worth noting that Enterprise has at least two other law suits involving racial discrimination. A small class action suit in St. Louis circa 2002 (link 1) and another suit in Baltimore (link 2) that I believe was settled last year (link 3)
Link 1: https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=11414 Link 2: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20160609 Link 3: https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-enterprise-discrimination-trial-20190801-gshrlgxlfbdvjfxau6iy7sw55i-story.html
Load More Replies...Hey everyone it is totally standard operating procedure for a bank to (checks notes) call the cops on a person trying to deposit a legitimate check?!?!
i'd like to know more honestly.... i believe that anyone who walks into a local bank with a check made out in some huge amount of money would raise suspicions no matter the color. Unless the bank clearly said something racial, i doubt the validity of the accusation
Sounds like following fraud protocol. Depositing a large check into a dormant account with .85c in it and being unable to verify the check doesn't sounfmd like racism
Yet he sued his previous employer for racial discrimination, which is a real thing. Hasn't had money in that same account since he stopped working, and then sued... (hence the little bit of money in his dormant account from waiting). Then they call the police because other then giving his ID with the check, he couldn't "verify it", but he COULD, so contacted his lawyer who DID VERIFY IT, And they still didn't believe it. And police were still called..... and no matter the color of your skin, any normal person would be do upset and frustrated, its human nature. And being poor is not uncommon in the US.
Load More Replies...HOW many racism settlement cheques are issued annually?? (And how often are the police called into a bank by mistake?)
Load More Replies...You should probably reread what happened. It seems you have a reading comprehension problem. Do banks normally call the cops too or did you skip that part?
Load More Replies...Slightly off topic, but: why do anyone anywhere in the world in the year 2020 use checks? With wire transfers (SEPA in Europe) there is not a single reason. It is safer, cheaper, and more convenient.
Hi Hans - run a small company with my husband and do still have some elderly customers that prefer cheques (which we don't as it's more hassle for us). They don't have computers or mobile phones (one doesn't even use an answer phone so he's a pain to get hold of) the highest level of tech in their home is usually the TV (some still CRT). These are people in their 70-90s. Most of our customers do pay by bank transfer and we do have some very clued up older people but there are just some who are worried or scared by technology. I have one customer who is in his 50s and he will pay by bank transfer but always does test sums of 1penny first because he once paid the wrong person because of a typo in the account number and they refused to return the money. The bank wouldn't help as it was his fault.
Load More Replies...It seems as though a lot of people commenting are misunderstanding the story. Yes banks do check to see if a check is legit for a large amount. What they don't do is call the cops on what is a legitimate check. So all the people claiming it is not racist for a bank to verify a large check can you answer two questions. 1) We know the check was legit, so why were the cops called for a legit check? 2) Is it logical to assume the bank never actually tried to verify the check like they claimed, since if they did it would have been verified and thus the bank is lying? Either way it sure sounds racist to me.
This is nuts. Like some who've commented I have worked in banking and this is NOT how you deal with someone opening accounts or paying in large cheques. If they're paying in a large amount you're nice to them and if it's a new account we did KYC (Know Your Customer) which is about avoiding money laundering. NONE of this involves immediately calling the cops, checks can be made without the customer even knowing about them. It lets you treat people with the respect they deserve whilst making sure you don't launder cash for criminals. This is flat out racism, poor guy!
That's what I thought. It doesn't matter what color the manager or his employee are..they're still capable of racial profiling. I had a former friend that thought, because she was black, she couldn't possibly be racists. Then hear her negatively talk about asian and hispanic customers for being nothing more than non-black. I told her one day to pretend she was white and substitute black for asian or hispanic in things she said...then see if she thinks a black person would be offended by her words. She didn't like me too much after that.
Load More Replies...It doesn’t matter if you’re different races, in different religions, or are LGBTQ+, all people deserve to be loved and treated equally. Don’t base your judgements on prejudices or stereotypes
Sad how people even with all their experience, can't look past someones skin to see their personality
Why would she jump right to calling in the police? Talk about over kill!
Thanks, but hey, there are a lot of worse places and I am proud to be an American!
Load More Replies...At some point in our society, we are going to have to stop thinking that a person is bad just because of their race. Not all white people are members of the KKK, not all black people are gang members, not all hispanics are illegal, not all Muslims are terrorists. There is good in every race and culture and there is bad in every race and culture. The key to getting along with people is to not judge an individual because of their race, gender, ethnicity, or religion. It is time for the world to love one another.
Worth noting that Enterprise has at least two other law suits involving racial discrimination. A small class action suit in St. Louis circa 2002 (link 1) and another suit in Baltimore (link 2) that I believe was settled last year (link 3)
Link 1: https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=11414 Link 2: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20160609 Link 3: https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-enterprise-discrimination-trial-20190801-gshrlgxlfbdvjfxau6iy7sw55i-story.html
Load More Replies...Hey everyone it is totally standard operating procedure for a bank to (checks notes) call the cops on a person trying to deposit a legitimate check?!?!
i'd like to know more honestly.... i believe that anyone who walks into a local bank with a check made out in some huge amount of money would raise suspicions no matter the color. Unless the bank clearly said something racial, i doubt the validity of the accusation
Sounds like following fraud protocol. Depositing a large check into a dormant account with .85c in it and being unable to verify the check doesn't sounfmd like racism
Yet he sued his previous employer for racial discrimination, which is a real thing. Hasn't had money in that same account since he stopped working, and then sued... (hence the little bit of money in his dormant account from waiting). Then they call the police because other then giving his ID with the check, he couldn't "verify it", but he COULD, so contacted his lawyer who DID VERIFY IT, And they still didn't believe it. And police were still called..... and no matter the color of your skin, any normal person would be do upset and frustrated, its human nature. And being poor is not uncommon in the US.
Load More Replies...HOW many racism settlement cheques are issued annually?? (And how often are the police called into a bank by mistake?)
Load More Replies...You should probably reread what happened. It seems you have a reading comprehension problem. Do banks normally call the cops too or did you skip that part?
Load More Replies...
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