Welcome to Bank of America! How Can We Totally Insult And Discriminate Against You?

By Ginna Green, Shakesville. Posted September 14, 2009.

Hi, welcome to Bank of America. How can we totally insult and discriminate against you?

Steve Valdez tried to cash a check his wife wrote to him on her Bank of America Account, but a bank branch in Tampa insisted he had to put his thumbprint on the check before it could be cashed. But Valdez couldn't give a thumb print because he was born without arms and doesn't have hands and fingers.

Valdez says he handed the teller the check with the prosthetic hands and the teller said obviously you can't give us a thumb print. When the branch manager realized he couldn't give a thumb print, she said he could bring in his wife or open a checking account.

Valdez says that's not the way they would treat someone who doesn't have prosthetic arms and he refused to do that. Valdez says he asked if they were aware of the Americans With Disabilities Act and federal law. The manger said yes, they were offering him accommodations by giving him those two options.

A spokesperson for Bank of America says while the thumb print is a requirement for those who don't have accounts, the bank should have made accommodations. She says the company plans to contact Valdez and apologize.

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Melissa McEwan writes and edits the blog Shakespeare's Sister.

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