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A Black woman in Michigan is suing PNC Bank after employees allegedly refused to cash her check without explanation.
According to Atlanta Black Star, Kiara Young, 33, filed a lawsuit, alleging that she became a victim of "Banking While Black" while trying to cash a $10,500 check at a PNC Bank branch in Common Township.
Young said she had received the check from a local car dealership that had an account with PNC Bank after selling her Cadillac CTX on May 24, 2023. The woman initially tried to cash it at her own bank, but she was told there would be a hold on it since it wasn't their check. Young's bank advised her to cash the check at a PNC Bank so she could receive the $10,500 on the same day.
Young claimed she then went to the local PNC Bank branch, where she was told she would have to pay a 2 percent processing fee to cash the check. However, before she could retrieve her cash, other bank employees began examining her check and called their manager.
According to Young, the manager, who was white, said they wouldn't be cashing the check without citing any reasons as to why.
“She took the check and said, ‘No, we are not going to cash this,’” Young recalled. “I asked, ‘Why not?’ And she said, ‘We just can’t.’”
Young said the incident left her feeling "embarrassed and humiliated.” The next day, Young claimed she was able to cash the check at another PNC branch without any issues and without paying the 2 percent processing fee.
According to Young's lawsuit, the bank manager who refused to service her “had an unprofessional tone, was rude, and gave Ms. Young an unfriendly look."
“The only investigation (the bank manager) engaged in was determining Ms.Young’s skin color and seeing the amount of the check to be cashed,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant’s failure to investigate the check before denying Ms. Young the service constituted a deviation from Defendant’s own policies or practices.”
PNC Bank responded to the suit, asking the judge to dismiss the case because they believe it's “factually deficient” and “fails to plausibly state a claim of racial discrimination.”
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