A Black woman filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against a Kia dealership in Highland Park, Illinois on Oct. 13. Sade Crockett was arrested at the dealership after being falsely accused of using a fraudulent check to purchase a vehicle on March 10.
Crockett was at the McGrath Kia located at 250 Skokie Valley Road in Highland Park to purchase a vehicle with a cashier’s check gifted to her by her 82-year-old uncle, Enoch Graves.
According to her attorneys, Hampton & Hampton LLP, Crockett and her uncle first went to the Fifth-Third Bank in Chicago and obtained a cashier’s check from Graves’ account, which was legitimate and intended as a birthday gift to his niece.
The duo explained to the bank tellers that they intended to purchase a vehicle with the cashier’s check and they even called the dealership from the bank to ensure a cashier’s check would be proper payment for the intended purchase.
“The clerks expressed that the bank could accommodate them without issue, and that cashier’s checks were less susceptible to fraud than personal checks and would give the recipient additional assurances that the check would clear,” says the lawsuit, adding that the dealership approved the cashier’s check made out in the amount of $30,710.05 as “an acceptable form of payment.”
The dealership also advised Crockett that she would not need to bring her uncle with her to make the purchase, and she dropped him off at home before heading to the dealership.
However, upon arriving, the 36-year-old said she “noticed a sense of unwelcomeness” from the predominantly white staff.
Nonetheless, she test-drove a used Chevy Blazer LT and decided she would purchase the 2021 vehicle and gave the dealers her cashier’s check. She also explained that she’d called earlier with the bank, but when the dealership called Fifth-Third to verify the check, they failed to call the same branch and were told the check was likely fraudulent…
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