A Black Michigan woman is suing PNC Bank after a white manager refused to cash a $10,000 check with the bank’s name on it, alleging she was “embarrassed and humiliated.”

Kiara Young tried to cash a $10,500 check at her local PNC Bank in Michigan when the bank refused to cash it without providing a valid explanation, leaving Young to assume it was because she “banked when she was black.”

Especially considering the check was issued by a local automotive dealer who had an account at PNC Bank, which meant the bank’s name was on the check.

Young, who had just sold her automotive to the dealership, tried to cash the check at her own bank but was told to cash it at PNC Bank since it was theirs. If PNC Bank had reason to consider Young had committed fraud, it could have easily contacted the dealer to confirm the check was legitimate, which is standard protocol for banks.

Instead, the white bank manager who refused to cash the check “behaved unprofessionally, was rude and gave Ms. Young an unfriendly look,” according to a lawsuit Young filed against the bank last 12 months.

“The only investigation he (the bank manager) conducted was to determine Ms. Young’s skin color and check the amount of the check to be cashed,” the lawsuit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, states.

“Defendant’s failure to examine the check prior to Ms. Young’s refusal to provide services constituted a departure from Defendant’s own policy or practice.”

In fact, Young was able to cash the check the next day at one other PNC branch with none problems, making the bank’s original denial much more suspicious.

PNC Bank responded to the lawsuit by asking the judge to dismiss the case on the grounds that it was “factually incorrect” and “fails to convincingly allege racial discrimination.”

However, greater than a 12 months since the lawsuit was filed, PNC Bank has failed to provide a valid reason why Young was refused service, apart from to claim that the bank was about to close and didn’t have enough cash – details that were revealed Young never explained when she was refused service.

According to the judge’s decision:

Refusal to provide services

Young, a 33-year-old city accountant for the city of Detroit, sold her Cadillac CTX to the company Lunghamer Buick GMC at a automotive dealership in Waterford on May 24, 2023, and was told to cash the check at PNC Bank, where that they had an account.

Young first tried to cash the check at her own bank, but was told the check could be placed on hold, which could take up to a week since it wasn’t theirs. They also advised her to cash it at PNC Bank and receive it the same day.

It was 4:50 p.m. Wednesday when Young walked into the PNC Bank branch in Common Township trying to cash a check. The bank was scheduled to close at 6 p.m

At first, the cashier told her she would have to pay a 2% processing fee, which she agreed to. But then other bank employees began going through the check, apparently becoming suspicious and calling the manager.

The manager then told her that they’d not cash her check unless they bothered to conduct a routine investigation to determine the validity of the check. Instead, the manager told her to cash the check at her own bank.

“She took the check and said, ‘No, we’re not going to cash that,’” Young told The Times. Detroit Free Press.

“I asked, ‘Why not?’ And she replied, “We just cannot.”

Young stated that she “felt embarrassed and humiliated” and cried in the automotive afterwards. The next day, she was able to cash the check at one other PNC branch in Troy with none problems and without having to pay a 2 percent processing fee.

Endless pattern

Earlier this 12 months, one other Detroit bank was sued by a black couple for refusing to cash a settlement check 4 times. Last 12 months, one other black man filed a lawsuit against a Minnesota bank that called the police when he tried to cash a cashier’s check.

In 2022, “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler was handcuffed and detained after trying to withdraw $10,000 from his Bank of America account in Atlanta.

According to reports, Coogler was wearing a hat, sunglasses and a mask and handed the teller a note asking for discretion, but additionally gave her his bank card, ID card and PIN number, This was reported by The New York Times.

The cashier, who was also black, told her manager she was uncomfortable with the transaction and feared Coogler had a gun.

“She got scared when the black guy handed her the note,” Coogler said. “I don’t know what else to say.” He added: “If she was afraid, she has to admit it.”

In 2021, one other Black man was handcuffed after he tried to cash his $900 withdrawal at a US Bank branch in Minneapolis after he said the manager told him, “You guys always come in here with fake checks.” .

Even Black lawyers are treated like criminals when trying to cash checks, as John Pittman II discovered in 2021 when he tried to cash a $12,000 settlement check at a Bank of America branch in San Diego.

“You would think that banks would have learned to be more sensitive to this by now,” lawyer Shereef Akeel told the Free Press, who represents Young and has filed quite a few “Banking While Black” lawsuits.

“We will continue to file discrimination lawsuits until they are over. It is unfortunate that African Americans in the 21st century continue to face such difficulties when seeking simple banking services such as check cashing.”