A 37-year-old named Trish Doolin, went through a humiliating and discriminating experience. Doolin is an architect who moved from Kirkland, Washington, to Seattle only several weeks ago.
She moved because she started working for a design company in Seattle.
One day, she went to a local branch of KeyBank in order to deposit a paycheck. But, only a few minutes later, she got a strange call from the same bank.
They didn’t believe she was an architect and went even further by accusing her of forgery…
So, Doolin decided to write all about it in her Facebook post.
As Doolin told BuzzFeed, she used the branch bank only because her deposit was not activated yet by her new company.
An employee from KeyBank took Doolin into his cubicle and Doolin said:
“He asked my profession, and then asked why the company’s headquarters were in Philadelphia. Then he asked if HR could verify that I was an employee there…”
Somehow, nobody from her new company answered the phone. So, the employee explained they must keep her check for 9 days in order to verify it. He added that her account was active for only 29 days while it should be active for at least 30 days, as the bank procedure required. Strangely enough, he didn’t ask Doolin to show her ID.
Doolin simply left the bank. She went home and after a while called the bank. A woman from the bank was assuring her the employee didn’t refuse to give her cash because he was a racist.
Eventually, Doolin got her money but also an apology from the bank:
“As a company, KeyBank values diversity within our organization, our communities and our clients. We do not tolerate discrimination. Client confidentiality means we cannot speak to any specific client’s situation. We can however, describe our Funds Availability Policy regarding client deposits and holds that may be placed on client deposits. Generally speaking and in compliance with applicable law, we advise clients who are new to KeyBank that we may place holds for a short period of time on their deposits during the first 30 days after they open their account with us. ”
But this apology is not enough to make Doolin forget all about it:
“I live in a world where, no matter what’s in my brain or purse, no matter how I wear my hair, no matter how fabulous I look when I walk out the door, I’m still black. People still clutch their purses when I walk past.”“When you’re black, you can’t go marching around saying, ‘I’ve been discriminated against. It’s that silent pain. You can still hurt, but just don’t do it too loudly.”
source [1]