Samuel waited for few minutes, thinking nothing was unusual.  “And I see her over there and I was like, ‘Oh, she looks like she’s going through my account. OK, maybe that’s just the policy,’” she told the news station. Then what took place next had Samuel thinking something was wrong.

“She hands me my license and she says, ‘I don’t feel comfortable giving you the money,’” Samuel said.

“So I got confused, so I said, ‘You don’t feel comfortable giving me the money,’” she said. “She said, ‘Well, you just deposited the check yesterday.’”

Samuel told the woman the check had cleared, and the teller confirmed it had. “And she said, ‘Oh yeah, it cleared. The money is available. I just don’t feel comfortable giving it to you,’” Samuel said. Samuel went outside of the bank to use the ATM and was able to withdraw the maximum without any issues.

“I was so hurt, and I didn’t want to start crying,” Samuel said. At another Bristol TD Bank branch close by, Samuel withdrew the money she tried to withdraw inside the Southington location. The businesswoman said the experience was “such a dehumanizing, devaluing thing.”

Protesters demonstrated outside of the Southington location on March 15. After the protests began, TD Bank released a statement:

“At TD Bank, we proudly serve diverse communities and customers and do not discriminate in the services we provide or the products we offer. The security of our customers’ accounts is a top priority and we regret that the specific reasons why the transaction could not be completed may not have been explained to Ms. Samuel at our Queen Street store in Southington. Due to privacy concerns, we cannot discuss the account activity of particular customers, although we can confirm that the customer’s transaction was completed at another TD store in the vicinity. We regret that Ms. Samuel did not have a positive experience, which is what we strive to provide, and that she did not receive a satisfactory explanation regarding her transaction. We are contacting her to review her transaction and to understand and address her concerns.”

Samuel called the bank later on to clarify their policies and to make sure no one else has to go through the same “terrible experience.”

Read more:

Louisiana Prep School Founders Allegedly Falsified College Applications, Doctored Transcripts and Fostered a ‘culture of fear with physical and emotional abuse’ 

Chicago officer captured on video striking a teen

Oklahoma announcer calls high school girls’ basketball team racial slur while players kneel during national anthem