A Colorado woman is suing banking giant JPMorgan after she claims she was “racially discriminated against” by a Chase Bank branch manager.
Jeanetta Vaughn, 61, filed a complaint in district court, naming JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Trina Pelech as defendants.
The 61-year-old was at Chase Bank on Buckley Road in Aurora, Colorado when she claimed to have been approached by Pelech.
Police bodycam footage and bank surveillance footage obtained by kdvr shows Vaughn sitting down in a chair before Pelech goes to speak to her.
The June 9, 2022 interaction resulted in Pelech calling two Aurora police officers to the branch and claiming that Vaughn was trespassing.
A Colorado woman is suing banking giant JPMorgan after she claims she was “racially discriminated against” by a Chase Bank branch manager
The interaction on June 9, 2022 resulted in Pelech calling two Aurora police officers to the Buckley Road branch and alleging that Vaughn had committed trespassing
Footage shows Vaughn entering the bank to collect checks from a teller. She walks in slowly, sits on a chair and tells the branch that she was hoping to unlock her bank card.
Vaughn, a former government employee, told kdvr that she is blocking her bank card because of her time in this career.
Pelech is then seen approaching Vaughn, who claims she asked if she “needed anything”.
“I told her, ‘No, I’ll unlock my card on my phone and then I’ll go upstairs and do my business,'” she explained.
The complaint said Pelech then said to Vaughn, “You don’t have to be rude.”
Footage shows Vaughn entering the bank to collect checks from a teller. She walks in slowly, sits on a chair and tells the branch that she was hoping to unlock her bank card
Vaughn, a former government employee, told kdvr that she is blocking her bank card because of her time in this career
“She says, ‘Well, you’re not welcome here, I’m the store manager, and you’re not welcome here,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean?'” Vaughn claimed.
“My money is here, my account is here and she said, ‘Well, you’re not welcome here and I’m going to call the police.’
Pelech was accused of going to the back of the branch and calling 911. An audio recording obtained by the outlet claimed that she accused Vaughn of trespassing.
“She says, ‘Well, you’re not welcome here, I’m the store manager, and you’re not welcome here,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean?'” Vaugh claimed
“She told me to go, she told me when she was ready she would come up and I don’t have to give her the 411, very rude,” Pelech is heard to say.
Officers arrived at the scene immediately and were seen talking to Vaughn and Pelech.
“All she had to do was tell me what she was doing and not with the scathing attitude and threat of videotaping,” Pelech is heard saying to a responding officer.
Vaughn has been a member of Chase Bank since 2019 and was shocked at the way she was treated.
“She didn’t seem to pose any threat to me,” an official who spoke with Pelech said in their conversation.
The bank did not post any signs prohibiting recording, Vaughn did not appear aggressive and “being rude” is not a matter for law enforcement, police heard on bodycam, according to the broadcaster.
“All I could see was I was handcuffed, dragged out, shot or something,” Vaughn explained.
The longtime customer said she then waited for her husband to arrive before leaving the bank.
“It’s something that needs to stop.” “Whether it’s in a bank, or a grocery store, at the movie theater, anywhere you are — I have a right to be there,” said Vaughn, who has never been charged with trespassing.
“She didn’t seem to pose any threat to me,” an official who spoke with Pelech said in their conversation
The longtime customer said she then waited for her husband to arrive before leaving the bank
Vaughn was seen leaving the bank after the interaction
The complaint also alleged that four discrimination complaints had been filed at the same branch location since September 2021.
“There’s a reason our country saw actions like the Woolworth sit-ins during the civil rights era,” said Iris Halpern, Vaughn’s attorney.
“True equality requires equal access to goods and services for all.”
“That’s why we have laws in this country that protect against racial discrimination in the restaurant, in the movies, in the gym and in the bank.”
Halpern added, “The police and the power they wield should not be used as a means of excluding people of color from full participation in society.”
A spokesman told kdvr briefly: “We do not agree with the allegation.” This is the only comment we have.’ It remains unclear whether Pelech still works at the bank.
has reached out to Pelech, Vaugh and JPMorgan for comment.