Lizzie Pugh, a 71-year-old retired Detroit school teacher, is suing a Livonia banking branch in Michigan after she was unable to cash her five-figure jackpot check.

Pugh’s attorneys refer to the incident as “banking while Black.”

Pugh grew up in Alabama during the 1960s Jim Crow era and thought she would no longer face direct discrimination, as times have evolved.

After hitting the jackpot during a church trip to the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort on April 9, she was excited to save the money she’d won.

Unfortunately, the retired school teacher was in for a rude awakening when she went to deposit her winnings.

On April 11, she went to open a saving account and deposit her check at the Fifth Third Bank in Livonia.

When she tried to deposit her winnings, she was told by three white bank employees that the check was fraudulent.

“I couldn’t really believe they did that to me,” Pugh shared in a recent interview with the Detroit Free Press. “I was devastated. I kept asking, ‘How do you know the check is not real?'”

Pugh said the tellers “just insisted” that the check was fraudulent. She adds that she was “just terrified.”

Pugh’s attorney, Deborah Gordon, shared that the check was just about $12,000 after the casino taxes were deducted from the $20,000 prize.

This additional income would be a blessing to Pugh, after a 36-year career of teaching in Detroit public schools.

“This is just one example of the continual hurdles and indignities that Black Americans face every day,” Gordon said, NBC News reports.

According to the lawsuit, the employees also refused to give the check back, but the elderly woman didn’t leave without a fight.

Pugh told them she wasn’t leaving without it and threatened to call the police, which ultimately led the employees to return the check.

In the lawsuit, the check included a memo line reading: “SLOT JACKPOT.” It also listed Pugh’s name and her home address, which matched the address on her driver’s license.

The bank seems to see the matter from a different view.

“At Fifth Third, we are committed to fair and responsible banking and prohibit discrimination of any kind,” the bank’s legal counsel said in a statement according to NBC News. “Our employees are trained to help every person with their banking needs — customer or non-customer — while minimizing the risk of any potential fraud.”

“From our review of the claims, we believe our employees’ actions have been misinterpreted,” the statement continued. “That said, we regret Ms. Pugh has come away feeling mistreated after her interactions at our branch, as our employees’ actions were consistent with our process and the dual goals of serving our customers while also preventing potential frauds that can victimize both the bank and our customers.”

Pugh said she was disappointed in this encounter. She added that it was “humiliating and stressful,” and that it was illogical for anyone to accuse a 71-year-old woman of fraud.