A Texas physician has sued Chase Bank after employees allegedly racially profiled her as she attempted to open a new account with a large bonus check from her new employer.
On Feb. 2, Malika Mitchell-Stewart filed a lawsuit with the United States District Court Southern District of Texas- Houston Division against Chase Bank and its two employees – Shae Wells and Trupti Patel, for “racial discrimination.”
Although the lawsuit was filed in federal court last week, the incident occurred on Dec. 18, 2021. The 35-year-old doctor went to the First Colony Bank in Sugar Land, Texas, to open an account and deposit a $16,780.16 check from the Valley Oak Medical Group at the “predominantly white” suburban financial institution. Upon giving the check to Patel, the teller asked Mitchell-Stewart “peculiar questions” to reportedly verify who she was and validate the five-figure check. Patel allegedly didn’t believe that the check was real, nor Mitchell-Stewart was a doctor.
Patel then took the check to Wells, an “associate banker.” The physician also alleged that Patel and Wells misled her to think that Wells was a manager when she wasn’t. Upon returning to Mitchell-Stewart, Wells accused the shocked woman of having a fraudulent check and did not offer any explanation as to what she thought she had discovered. However, the associate banker did tell the doctor that she wouldn’t allow her to open an account at the bank because she believed she was attempting to “commit fraud.”
Fearing arrest, Mitchell-Stewart left the bank feeling humiliated after being “treated like a criminal.”
“Even after Dr. Mitchell-Stewart showed employees at First Colony Branch identification, emails between her and the clinic she works for along with her business, she was still treated like a criminal,” the suit stated.
Mitchell-Stewart returned to the bank with her mother on Dec. 27 to file a complaint. The actual branch manager apologized to the woman regarding her first experience but explained that it was Chase Bank’s discretion whether employees serviced her or not.
Regarding her character and the bank Patel and Well’s behavior, the doctor felt the women diminished her accomplishments and character because she was Black.
“I’ve never done anything wrong,” Mitchell-Stewart told KTRK-TV. “In order to get Texas medical license or a medical license at all, you have to have a clean record. You have to go to school for so many years, and they just didn’t care. They didn’t respect that. They didn’t respect my credentials.”
On Jan. 31, her attorney, Justin Moore, took to Facebook to expound on the trauma his client experienced.
“Today, I went to Houston to meet with Dr. Malika Mitchell-Stewart, the young doctor that was denied the ability to open a bank account at @chase. I took a tour of her office and got a chance to learn about her journey to become a doctor. Her practice is community-focused, and she is intentional on serving her people. This, to me, made what happened to her even more egregious. For her credentials to be questioned and for her to be accused of being a scammer is unforgivable. Only 3% of physicians are black women, and we as a community need to protect them when instances of blatant discrimination is used to belittle and diminish their status as essential professionals.”
JPMorgan Chase said in a statement Thursday: “We take this matter very seriously and are investigating the situation. We have reached out to Dr. Mitchell-Stewart to better understand what happened and apologize for her experience.”
Mitchell-Stewart is seeking more than $1 million in damages in her lawsuit.
