Casino jackpot winner alleges Michigan bank wouldn’t cash her prize check because she’s Black

Lizzie Pugh filed a federal lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank, accusing white employees of stopping her from depositing the check. “I’m 71 years old," she said. "Why would I steal a check and try to cash it?”

By Edward Era Barbacena

A Black woman from Michigan says she was racially discriminated against when three white employees at a Fifth Third Bank told her a casino jackpot check she was trying to deposit was fraudulent, according to a recently filed federal lawsuit.

Lizzie Pugh, 71, tried to deposit the check April 11 at one of the bank's Livonia branches, according to the suit, filed Aug. 29 in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan. The lawsuit says Pugh had a check in hand from the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, where she had hit a slot machine jackpot on April 9 while out with a church group.

When Pugh arrived at Fifth Third, where she did not have an account, three white female employees told her the check was fraudulent when she tried to open a savings account, according to the suit, which does not name the employees. The employees also tried to keep the check, it says.

Pugh’s attorney, Deborah Gordon, said Wednesday that the check was for about $12,000 after the casino deducted taxes from the $20,000 jackpot.

Pugh, according to the lawsuit, was raised in Alabama during the Jim Crow era and retired from Detroit Public Schools after 36 years.

“This is just one example of the continual hurdles and indignities that Black Americans face every day,” Gordon said.

A spokesperson for Fifth Third Bank said in a statement: “At Fifth Third, we are committed to fair and responsible banking and prohibit discrimination of any kind. Our employees are trained to help every person with their banking needs — customer or non-customer — while minimizing the risk of any potential fraud.”

THIS IS BANKING WHILE BEING BLACK IN AMERICA