Bank Calls Cops On Black Man Who Tried To Cash A Check From His Discrimination Lawsuit

A black man from Detroit is now suing a Michigan bank for refusing to cash a settlement check awarded to him from a racial discrimination lawsuit.

According to the NY Post, Sauntore Thomas, 44, claims TCF Bank employees refused to cash or deposit his settlement check at a branch in Livonia. The incident led to cops responding and a fraud investigation being launched.

“I didn’t deserve treatment like that when I knew that the check was not fraudulent,” Thomas told the Detroit Free Press. “I’m a United States veteran. I have an honorable discharge from the Air Force. They discriminated against me because I’m black. None of this would have happened if I were white.”

The entire experience was more insult added to a previous injury for him. Thomas declined to reveal the amount of the settlement check he was attempting to deposit, as part of a confidential agreement in a federal lawsuit against his former employer, Enterprise Leasing Company of Detroit. The company he previously sued for discrimination.

On Wednesday, Thomas, who had an account at the bank for nearly two years, sued TCF Bank alleging racial discrimination by the bank for calling the police, prompting four cops to respond to the branch.

He even called his employment law attorney Deborah Gordon, while at the bank to help him explain to bank employees that the check was authentic.

“I got on the phone with the bank,” attorney Gordon said. “I sent them my federal court complaint, to see that it matched. I did everything.”

Gordon contends that Thomas was denied due to race.