“It Was Just Completely Demeaning” - Black Architect Has To Prove To Bank She Works For Company To Deposit Cheque

Story out of Washington, DC:

Trish Doolin’s story gained traction when her friend Sugar (who declined to give her last name for safety reasons) took a screenshot of Doolin’s Facebook status describing her experience at a KeyBank branch in Kirkland and tweeted it.

"Pls. RT When you're 1 of a handful of Black female architects EVER and you try to cash your payroll check @keybank."  — bald headed Sug (@whoissugar)

Doolin, a job captain of architecture at design firm Nelson, Inc., told BuzzFeed News that she had just moved to Seattle a few weeks ago and stopped at KeyBank on Wednesday morning to deposit her paycheck.

Nelson had recently moved to Washington, Doolin said, and employees’ direct-deposit service hadn’t taken effect yet.

“I went in, deposited my check, and went about my day,” the 37-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, native said.

A few minutes later, the banker called her, told her there had been a problem with her check, and asked her to return to the bank.

Doolin said she was taken into a cubicle and noticed when she sat down that the bank teller — whom she described as white — had already pulled up her design firm’s website on his computer.

“He asked my profession, and then asked why the company’s headquarters were in Philadelphia,” she said. “Then he asked if HR could verify that I was an employee there.”

As he dialed her company, Doolin said he “kept saying it was for the bank’s safety,” adding that at no point did he ask for her ID.

When her company didn’t answer the phone, the man proceeded to tell Doolin that because her account had not been open for 30 days, the bank had to hold her paycheck for nine days to verify the funds.

“When I realized that I was defending who I was, trying to prove to someone I didn’t know who I was, I knew I was being discriminated against,” she said. “It was just completely demeaning.” Cont.

Story from - BuzzFeed