A TikToker has gone viral after accusing Bank of America of racial profiling. User @jeromet7 claims that after trying to validate a check at his local Bank of America, he was turned away from a Bethel Park, Pennsylvania location. Now, he tells the Daily Dot that he’s suing the establishment.
In the video, one can see several Bank of America employees telling @jeromet7 to leave and to stop recording. @jeromet7 does not comply, instead asking them to explain why they refuse to validate his check. The video has over 420,000 views.
Users pressed @jeromet7 to share further details about what happened and why the bank refused to validate his check. In the comments, he responded that the location would not tell him why they were refusing to perform this service.
“She never gave a reason why they would not validate the check,” he writes.
As for what led him to this situation in the first place, @jeromet7 said he was simply looking to cash the check.
“My mother received a $7000 check from Lowe’s because the contractors messed up some work in our house,” he says, “and I took her to Bank of America to [cash] a [check].”
In a statement to the Daily Dot, he added: “I filed a lawsuit on behalf of my mother because the contractors messed up the work in her kitchen so we received a $7000 check and both our names from Lowe’s I was taking her to go cash the check immediately so she can re-purchase the items I have other contractors come out and do the work. The check was issued from Bank of America so I took her directly to Bank of America so they can validate the check and just cash it but this lady was giving me a hard time and was coming up with every excuse not to run the check.”
However, some claim that @jeromet7’s video must not be showing the full story.
“One sided story again again and again,” wrote a TikToker.
“You cant shame someone or a [business] without telling the whole story,” expressed another.
This isn’t the first time a Bank of America location has been accused of racial discrimination. A KPBS article published in July 2021 shared the story of a Black man, John Pittman III, who was accused of theft after he tried to cash an insurance settlement check.
“I’m thinking this would not have happened if I wasn’t a Black person,” Pittman told KPBS.
Even Black celebrities aren’t immune to this mistreatment. Earlier this week, Oscar-nominated director Ryan Coogler was arrested while trying to withdraw money from his own Bank of America account. BoA has since apologized to Coogler.
No matter the reason behind @jeromet7’s video, it has encouraged some users to reconsider their relationship with the bank.
As one user shared, “I will never… bank with Bank of America.”
Bank of America did not immediately respond to Daily Dot’s request for comment via email.
Update March 13, 9:02am CT: This story has been updated with comment from @jeromet7.
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