‘Banking while Black’: Crump sues on behalf of woman arrested in $600 deposit dispute

Linda Stephens just wanted to know what happened to her $600.

In April 2021, she had deposited the money at an ATM at the MidFlorida Credit Union branch in Bartow to put toward her mortgage payment, but the money didn’t go through. Though she returned to the branch several times to complain, eventually cops were called and Stephens, who was 69 at the time and had no criminal record, was taken to jail for disorderly conduct.

Stephens, flanked by her husband Rufus and famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump, announced to reporters Thursday she is suing the credit union, accusing them of arresting her for “banking while Black.” While the complaint was filed in Orange County, Crump said he believes the case will be moved to federal court.

“We don’t think this would have happened to everybody’s grandmother,” Crump said. “This implicit bias has terrible consequences for our people.”

According to an affidavit on Stephens’ arrest, bank workers called the Bartow Police Department after she “became irate and started yelling and arguing with employees,” which she denied. Stephens said she was told to return several times to check on the status of her deposit, only to later be told an issue with the ATM was being fixed by a technician.

She was then handcuffed and taken to Polk County Jail, where she said she stayed for more than a day while she awaited a court hearing. She was charged with disorderly conduct, which was dropped May 2021.

“I was traumatized, I was humiliated, all because I asked for my money from a bank I’ve had for some 47-and-a-half years,” said Stephens, a former Polk County teacher. “It’s more than I can deal with.”

Crump said his legal team is considering a lawsuit against the police, who he said left her with a fractured nose as she was taken to jail, where court records show she was placed on suicide watch. The affidavit said “there was no use of force” and that Stephens “made no complaint of injury.”

“We believe the proximate cause of all the injustice suffered by Linda Stephens was because of MidFlorida Credit Union accusing her of being belligerent because she wanted her money,” Crump said.

Stephens said after she returned home, she was visited by a representative of MidFlorida Credit Union, who apologized and offered her a $300 gift card and money to pay her mortgage for a month.

She has since been treated for post-traumatic stress.

Spokespeople for the bank and the City of Bartow did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

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