Houston doctor sues JPMorgan Chase claiming she was barred from cashing $16,000 check because she is Black

A doctor in Houston , Texas is suing JPMorgan Chase Bank after claiming that she was discriminated against and denied service because of her skin colour.

Dr Malika Mitchell-Stewart told KTRK that she had recently finished her residency and that she was trying to open an account and deposit a $16,000 check she had received as a signing bonus from her new job at Valley Oaks Medical Group.

But in a lawsuit, she claims that the staff at Chase’s First Colony Bank asked odd questions about the authenticity of the check and about her work as a medical professional.

“As soon as Dr Mitchell-Stewart showed employees at First Colony Branch her Check, they immediately treated her like a criminal,” the legal filing states.

Dr Mitchell-Stewart said the bank staff rejected her and that they claimed that the check was fraudulent.

“It was an unfortunate situation. They took my special moment away. I felt like a criminal. I’ve never done anything wrong,” Dr Mitchell-Stewart said. “In order to get Texas medical license or a medical license at all, you have to have a clean record. You have to go to school for so many years, and they just didn’t care. They didn’t respect that. They didn’t respect my credentials.”

“Dr Mitchell-Stewart showed proof of identification. She showed proof that she was a doctor by presenting a business card. She even called employees from her medical group to confirm who she was,” her lawyer, Justin Moore, told KTRK .

“We take this matter very seriously, and are investigating the situation,” Chase told the outlet. “We have reached out to Dr Mitchell-Stewart to better understand what happened and apologize for her experience.”