Retired schoolteacher won a five figure jackpot at a casino, bank employees refused to cash her check

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When Lizzie Pugh won money from a Michigan casino, the last thing on her mind was being denied to deposit her check at a bank.

Lizzie Pugh denied to deposit check

But that is exactly what happened. Now, the retired schoolteacher in Detroit, has filed a federal lawsuit after bank employees refused to deposit a check with the money she won from a casino jackpot.

Incident

Pugh, 71, won the five figure jackpot at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. However, when she took the check to a Fifth Third Bank in Livonia, three white employees told her the check was fraudulent, refused to give it back, and, according to Pugh, were blatantly racist.

“I couldn’t really believe they did that to me,” Pugh told The Detroit Free Press. “I was devastated. I kept asking, ‘How do you know the check is not real?’ … And they just insisted that it was fraudulent. … I was just terrified.”

The incident occurred on April 9th, and on August 29th, she filed the federal lawsuit.

Pugh finally managed to get her check back and was able to deposit it at a nearby Chase bank.

“To think that maybe they would have police coming and running at me – it was humiliating and stressful,” said the retired school teacher. “For someone to just accuse you of stealing? I’m 71 years old. why would I steal a check and try to cash it? I just didn’t think anybody would do that.”

Jackpot

After winning at the casino following a trip with her church group, Pugh chose to immediately pay the taxes on the jackpot.

She then pocketed a small amount of cash and took the rest of the funds in the form of a check, which she says contained both the Soaring Eagle logo and her address.

According to Pugh, the information listed on the check was completely identical to what was also listed on her driver’s license.

Lizze Pugh’s lawsuit

The amount Pugh is suing for has not been disclosed.

However, she credits her niece Yolanda McGee for being the reason she decided to take legal action against the bank.

Pugh is now working alongside attorney Deborah Gordon to demand justice for the way she says she was treated by the Fifth Third Bank employees.

“This is extremely disheartening,” said Gordon to The Detroit Free Press. “It’s really unfortunate these stereotypes continue to exist right here in our metro area.”