Black U.S Army second lieutenant Deja Harrison is suing New Orleans’ Harrah’s Casino after a security officer refused to let her inside on October 5, claiming she was not the woman pictured in her military ID.
Harrison said the employee checking her ID questioned whether her ID was valid.
“I mean, not only was it humiliating, but I was just shocked and appalled that somebody would say I’m actually not an Army and that my ID was fake,” Harrison told NewsNation “You know, I immediately started telling him, you know I’m a second lieutenant now, I just commissioned this summer after I graduated camp.”
Harrison said that she attempted to explain that her ID was real but the security insisted on denying her entry which led her to record the incident and post it on Twitter.
“I don’t think this is you..I’ll call NOPD and you can explain to them” -Corey from @harrahsnola @HarrahsLADowns
I showed 2 forms of photo I.D and even my Army paystub.
I shouldn’t be discriminated against just bc I’m a high-ranked 23 yr old black female in the Army! pic.twitter.com/ziIFUz6XsX
— Deja Harrison (@dejaharrisontv) October 5, 2021
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In the video, Harrison is seen as she tried to prove her identity in multiple ways but the employee did not believe her. He then proceeded to say he’d call the police so that they could verify her ID, but they never showed up.
“I started making the video, and I’m literally showing him, I have my vaccination card, I’m fully vaccinated. I even showed one of the staff members my Army paystub. I had a valid state driver’s license, I had a valid military ID, and I was still denied access to this casino,” Harrison explained.
“I decided to stand there, stand up for myself because I was not in the wrong.”
James Desimone, Harrison’s attorney, said, “We’re absolutely willing to go to the bat for Lt. Harrison. This manager clearly engaged in stereotypical thinking and implicit bias; he could not believe that a young black woman had achieved the rank that she did through her hard work and dedication in the Army.”
“This violates Louisiana human rights laws and that he’s engaging in those stereotypes he’s denying her access to a public facility based on her race,” Desimone said.
Following the incident, Harrah’s released a statement regarding the incident defending themselves.
To comply w/ gaming regulations, we check IDs for our guests who appear to be under 30 years old. We use an approved electronic reader similar to what you would find @ an airport TSA checkpoint. Our Team Members are trained to evaluate identification in accordance w/ regulations. pic.twitter.com/rdJYZz8F2J
— Harrah’s New Orleans (@harrahsnola) October 7, 2021
“Ms. Harrison, who appeared to be under 30, presented a Louisiana driver’s license that did not clear our electronic verification system. When asked for an alternative form of identification, she presented a military ID card, but the information on the military ID card did not match the information she had verbally communicated to our security officers,” the statement read.
“We are saddened by this situation and will continue to evaluate our processes to ensure that we uphold both our commitment to our guests and our regulators. We have reached out to Ms. Harrison, who let us know she will be retaining legal counsel; as such, we will have no further comment,” the statement continued.
