‘This was no mistake’: Michigan man settles racial-discrimination lawsuit and took the checks to bank. Then 4 cops show up, so he sued them too

Sauntore Thomas, a 44-year-old Black man from Detroit and an Air Force veteran, walked into a TCF Bank branch in Livonia, Michigan, with settlement checks in hand. He had just resolved a racial discrimination lawsuit against his former employer after seven months. He reportedly asked to open a savings account so he could deposit the checks, which totaled $99,000.

According to NBC News, the assistant branch manager immediately appeared suspicious of him, a lawsuit he later filed in Wayne County Circuit Court alleged. She asked how he got the money and said the checks would need to be verified. She told him the bank’s computer system for checking them was not working and that she would go in the back to call in the checks.

Instead of verifying the checks, the lawsuit claimed, she called Livonia police. Four officers arrived and questioned Thomas. He called his lawyer, Deborah Gordon, so she could explain the source of the funds. The bank still refused to accept the deposits and later filed a police report accusing him of check fraud, the suit stated.

Bank later said police should not have been called and issued an apology

Thomas reportedly left the branch and deposited the checks somewhere else. He then sued TCF Financial Corp., the bank’s holding company, alleging that his race was a factor in how staff treated him. The lawsuit said he was humiliated and suffered mental anguish and emotional distress. He is seeking damages.

The police visit did not lead to an arrest or criminal charges. The experience of racial discrimination is not limited to banking, as a Black man says a realtor refused to show him a home after seeing him in gym clothes.

“They did not want to assist me because I was African American,” Thomas told The Associated Press. “They didn’t want to assist me because they assumed that I had a fraudulent check, which was far from the truth. This was no mistake.” He added that he did not receive an apology at the time and that this was not simply an error.

Bank spokesman Tom Wennerberg said the assistant branch manager is African American and that Thomas’s race was not a factor. In a statement, the bank said it strongly condemns racism and discrimination of any kind. It said staff take extra precautions with large deposits and requests for cash. The bank’s response comes as racial bias in institutions faces scrutiny, such as a Missouri mother’s lawsuit after her son was bruised at school over a backpack.

Wennerberg told The Washington Post that the request raised some red flags. He said Thomas tried to deposit three checks totaling $99,000 into an account that was nearly empty and had no recent activity. He said the manager should have taken the checks and placed an extended hold while the bank checked the source of the funds, rather than calling the police.

After the Detroit Free Press first reported the story, the bank issued an apology. “We take extra precautions involving large deposits and requests for cash, and in this case, we were unable to validate the checks presented by Mr. Thomas and regret we could not meet his needs,” the bank said. Wennerberg also said the company may consider policy changes.

Gordon, who is white, said an assumption was made about Thomas right away. “If I had walked into that bank, they’d have been happy to see me,” she said. “This fits right into that picture, to a T.” She added that such assumptions are part of being an African American male in this country, in her view.