Longtime Member Claims Racial Discrimination Against MidFlorida CU
A dispute over a $600 ATM deposit leads to an arrest of a longtime member and a “black while banking” accusation.
A dispute over a $600 ATM deposit, which allegedly turned ugly and led to the arrest of a longtime member and a “black while banking” accusation at a branch of the $6.6 billion MidFlorida Credit Union in Lakeland, is at the center of a civil lawsuit filed by a nationally-recognized attorney.
Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights and personal injury attorney, held a press conference Thursday in front of the Orange County courtroom in Orlando, Fla., claiming that his client, Linda Stephens, a 70-year-old retired Black teacher and a credit union member for nearly 50 years, was a victim of racial discrimination at the MidFlorida branch in Bartow. The lawsuit also alleged that Stephens, who was arrested for disorderly conduct, was mistreated and abused by police officers.
However, Stephens’ lawsuit and a police report described what occurred at the branch in April 2021 quite differently.
“We’re sorry for any wrongful treatment that Ms. Stephens may have encountered while in police custody,” MidFlorida said in a prepared statement. “Police were contacted to calm an escalating situation with an irate customer because we have an obligation to provide a secure environment for all members in the branch conducting financial transactions. MidFlorida Credit Union is proud of our culture of inclusivity and equality as well as the high level of service we provide to all our members.”
According to the lawsuit, MidFlorida admitted that had the situation with Stephens been handled correctly, she never would have been arrested and forced to undergo such severe trauma. Stephens also claimed that since her “heinous treatment by MidFlorida leadership and employees leading to her arrest,” she has been diagnosed with PTSD and has been undergoing constant psychiatric and therapy treatment due to the emotional distress and trauma she was forced to undergo.
On April 13, 2021, at about 1 a.m., Stephens made a $600 cash deposit at the Bartow branch ATM and left with a deposit receipt. But when she checked her online account later that morning, she noticed the deposit was not pending or posted. Concerned, because the funds were to pay for her mortgage, she visited the branch where a teller indicated the deposit had not been posted yet because a technician was working to fix a mechanical issue with the ATM.
A few hours later, Stephens returned to the branch and another employee confirmed the cash deposit had not been posted. Although Stephens filled out a dispute form, she was assured that within two to three hours, the funds would be posted to her account.
But after Stephens checked her online account on April 14, the cash deposit was not posted and she returned to the branch.
When a teller could not confirm that the deposit had been posted, Stephens was shown to an office when an employee called the ATM technician who confirmed that he indeed found her $600 deposit in the ATM. By this time, according to the lawsuit, Stephens was very distraught and vocally concerned about the status of her $600.
“The branch manager then came into the office and demanded that Ms. Stephens calm down,” the lawsuit read. “Ms. Stephens again pleaded with MidFlorida employees, requesting access to the money she deposited. Instead of assisting her with the transaction, the branch manager called the police on Ms. Stephens.”
Within minutes, a Bartow Police officer arrived on the scene and stood silently behind Stephens. After a few moments, another Bartow Police officer rushed into the office with his hand on his gun, stating that he thought somebody on the phone said somebody had a gun, the lawsuit claimed. At this point, Stephens was afraid for her life, according to the lawsuit. She told the officers that she just wanted access to her funds, which she deposited into the ATM two days prior. Stephens also explained that she did not have a gun, never owned a gun and had never even fired a gun.
“A few moments later, the police officer placed Ms. Stephens under arrest and led her out to his car. She was kept in the hot police car in 90-degree heat for 20 minutes while the officers met outside,” according to the lawsuit. “While all of this was going on, none of the MidFlorida employees said a word in Ms. Stephens’ defense or tried to explain the situation to the police officers.”
But a police report painted a very different picture of the events that led to Stephens’ arrest.
After she became irate and began yelling and arguing with employees, the teller manager invited Stephens to her office so that they could discuss the concerns in a peaceful manner and without disturbing the other members and employees working in the branch. But while in the office, Stephens allegedly continued to yell and scream while arguing with the teller manager.
According to the police report, the disturbance was so loud that the branch manager heard it from her office where the door was closed. But even when the branch manager was trying to assist Stephens, she continued to scream and yell until the branch manager warned that the police would be called if she did not calm down.
After the first police officer arrived, he witnessed the head teller and branch manager tell Stephens the funds were being processed digitally and would be available for her to withdraw in an hour. Nevertheless, Stephens continued to be irate, screamed and argued with the credit union employees and the police officer. Stephens allegedly yelled that “law enforcement was here to shoot her and tase her,” according to the police report.
A second police officer who was dispatched to the credit union branch was advised by a “dispatcher that law enforcement would have to come and shoot her to remove her from the premises,” according to the police report. But after he arrived, he asked the first officer if there were any threats made by Stephens about a gun, and the first officer said no.
“The defendant (Stephens) was advised by the employees that they did not want to have to trespass her, but that she needed to leave. They made multiple requests to get her to leave,” the police report read. “The defendant raised her voice and began screaming about a gun. I advised her that we were in a bank and that she had to stop screaming about a gun. She immediately raised her voice (became louder) and began to repeatedly scream ‘gun, gun, gun …’ over and over.”
After the police arrested Stephens for disorderly conduct, she refused to stand up and leave the branch. Instead of carrying her out, Stephens was sitting on a chair with rollers, so a police officer rolled her out to the patrol car. She then refused to stand up to sit in the police car. So one of the officers picked her up and placed Stephens on her side to transport her to the Bartow Police Department. According to the lawsuit, Stephens was dragged out of the police car, thrown onto the pavement and placed into a 4 x 6-foot holding room.
Later that day, Stephens was transported to the Sheriff’s department where she was handcuffed again, picked up by four male officers, dragged across the floor and thrown face first into a police car as if she were a rag doll, the lawsuit claimed.
“Ms. Stephens’ nose was fractured during this process. While at the Sheriff’s department, Ms. Stephens was stripped naked and transported to the jail annex,” according to the lawsuit. “What followed was 24 hours of a living hell in which Ms. Stephens spent a night completely nude on a cement floor of a jail annex cell. Humiliated, dehumanized and exhausted, she was released the next day.”
Although the lawsuit did not identify the sheriff’s department, Stephens was taken to the Polk County Sheriff’s Department.
Stephens’ lawsuit did not name the Polk County Sheriff’s Department or the Bartow Police Department as defendants. The law enforcement agencies did not respond to CU Times‘ request for comment.
On April 16, a MidFlorida regional manager met Stephens at her home and apologized for the incident and also said the credit union handled it incorrectly. The regional manager gave Stephens a voucher for a mortgage payment of $300.