A bank manager called the police on a father of four who was trying to cash a check to buy school supplies for his children — after employees locked the doors upon seeing him, according to a racial discrimination lawsuit.

It was the man’s third attempt to cash the $1,500 check issued by his employer at an Amerant Bank branch in Delray Beach, Florida, on Aug. 9, 2022, a complaint says.

While waiting outside the bank, the man, who is Black, thought the employees might have locked the doors as part of a COVID-19 related protocol, but he noticed customers were inside, according to the complaint filed last month in Orange County Circuit Court.

He later learned the bank’s manager dialed 911, referring to him as “six feet tall with dreads and wearing a black hoodie,” repeatedly described him as Black, and accused him of having a fraudulent check, the complaint says.

The manager also mentioned an arrest record and “possible weapon” while speaking with dispatchers, according to the complaint.

“The manager’s unnecessary, negligent, and reckless call to the police and her word choice placed (him) in great harm,” the complaint says.

Delray Beach police officers arrived within minutes and ordered the man to put his hands up, according to the complaint.

He listened and “was frisked, questioned, and feared for his life,” according to the complaint.

Officers then concluded he posed no threat and that his check was real, the complaint says. They walked him inside the bank and the manager cashed his check, according to the complaint.

The 37-year-old father is suing Amerant Bank, accusing the business of discriminating against his race by denying him service and calling the police.

McClatchy News is not identifying him to protect the identity of his children.

The case, which is represented by attorney Natalie Jackson, the co-director of litigation for Ben Crump Law, PLLC, was transferred to federal court in Orlando on Sept. 16, court records show.

Ted White, the Delray Beach Police Department’s public information officer, confirmed to McClatchy News on Sept. 24 that officers “responded to the (911) call and spoke with both parties” on Aug. 9, 2022.

“The bank manager was able to call the issuer of the check and confirmed that the check was not fraudulent,” White said.

An Amerant Bank spokesperson told McClatchy News on Sept. 24 that the “handling of (the man’s) transaction was consistent with established procedures aimed at protecting the Bank and its customers from potential check fraud.”

The company “categorically denies any aspect of its handling of this transaction was based on race,” the spokesperson said.

‘Unlawfully harassed and disrespected’

According to the lawsuit, the man was turned away from Amerant Bank in Delray Beach during his first visit on Aug. 5, 2022, when a bank teller told him to return the following Monday because “the only manager who could cash his check was not present.”

The next Monday, on Aug. 8, 2022, the bank’s employees locked the doors as he returned at 3:30 p.m. and told him it was closed, the complaint says.

The man, described as “anxious to cash his check” to buy school supplies, took a half day off work on Aug. 9, 2022, to visit Amerant Bank earlier, according to the complaint.

That’s when the doors were locked again and police were called, the complaint says.

The Amerant Bank spokesperson told McClatchy News that the man was told to revisit the bank during his first visit because his check “was of a different check stock to that customarily used by Amerant’s customer, the issuer of the check.”

He “was asked to return to the bank pending verification with the issuer of the check,” the spokesperson said.

Amerant Bank denied that he visited the bank during typical business hours on his second visit and said video footage shows he tried to enter at 4:34 p.m.

In regards to his third visit, the spokesperson said “Check stock that is inconsistent with that customarily used by a client is highly indicative of the commission of check fraud, and because the branch was unable to still confirm with issuer of the check, at that time on August 9, 2022, the police were called.”

The lawsuit says Amerant Bank employees never called the police on a white client who tried to cash a check from an Amerant bank account – or denied a white client service.

“He was unlawfully harassed and disrespected solely because of the color of his skin,” the complaint says.

Alongside racial discrimination, the man accuses Amerant Bank, which is headquartered in Coral Gables, of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.

He’s seeking an unspecified amount in damages and demands a jury trial.

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