The man attempted to cash his settlement check at a Detroit bank, only to be accused of trying to cash fraudulent checks.

A Detroit man is suing a bank for race discrimination after he tried to cash a check from a settlement for a previous race discrimination lawsuit.

In a report from the Detroit Free Press, Sauntore Thomas went to TCF Bank on Wednesday to deposit checks from a settlement he received from a federal lawsuit against his former employer, Enterprise Leasing Company of Detroit. The bank didn't allow Thomas to cash or deposit his check, and called the cops on him after accusing him of trying to cash fraudulent checks.

"I didn't deserve treatment like that when I knew that the check was not fraudulent," Thomas said. "I'm a United States veteran. I have an honorable discharge from the Air Force. They discriminated against me because I'm black. None of this would have happened if I were white."

Tom Wennerberg, a spokesman for TCF Bank, disputed Thomas' claim of racial discrimination, and said that the checks he had displayed a watermark that read VOID when they were scanned. Wennerberg added that the bank tried to contact Enterprise to verify the checks were part of a lawsuit, but couldn't get anyone to confirm it.

Later that day, Thomas deposited the checks into a new account at a Chase bank, where they cleared within 12 hours. Thomas is suing TCF for unspecified damages, and wants an apology from the bank as well.

Source: Detroit Free Press