Black Army officer suing Harrah’s New Orleans after casino entry denial

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — A Black servicewoman is suing a New Orleans on line casino after safety officers refused to let her inside, claiming she was not the lady pictured in her navy ID.

U.S Military 2nd Lt. Deja Harrison and her household deliberate to rejoice her step-brother’s twenty first birthday at Harrah’s On line casino on Oct. 5. However earlier than the celebration may start, on line casino safety informed her she wasn’t allowed to enter the ability with the IDs she offered.

Harrison mentioned the worker checking her ID questioned the validity of it.

“I imply, not solely was it humiliating, however I used to be simply shocked and appalled that anyone would say I’m really not an Military and that my ID was pretend,” Harrison informed NewsNation “, I instantly began telling him, you understand I’m a second lieutenant now, I simply commissioned this summer season after I graduated camp.”

Harrison mentioned even after explaining that her ID was actual, the worker nonetheless denied entry, so she pulled out her cellphone to file the incident.

Within the now-viral cellphone video of the incident, which has been considered on Twitter greater than 280,000 occasions, the worker mentioned the IDs have been actual however didn’t imagine Harrison was the particular person pictured on them.

“I began making the video, and I’m actually displaying him, I’ve my vaccination card, I’m totally vaccinated. I even confirmed one of many workers members my Military paystub. I had a sound state driver’s license, I had a sound navy ID, and I used to be nonetheless denied entry to this on line casino,” Harrison defined.

Harrison repeatedly tried to show the reality, however the worker could possibly be heard within the video saying he’d name the New Orleans Police Division so she may clarify it to them. He then went over, picked up the telephone, and appeared to name. Harrison mentioned she waited two hours for the police, however they by no means got here.

“I made a decision to face there, rise up for myself as a result of I used to be not within the mistaken.”

James Desimone, Harrison’s lawyer, mentioned he and a staff of attorneys in Louisiana are able to file a civil lawsuit on Harrison’s behalf.

“We’re completely keen to go to the bat for Lt. Harrison. This supervisor clearly engaged in stereotypical considering and implicit bias; he couldn’t imagine {that a} younger black lady had achieved the rank that she did by her exhausting work and dedication within the Military,” Desimone mentioned. “This violates Louisiana human rights legal guidelines and that he’s partaking in these stereotypes he’s denying her entry to a public facility based mostly on her race.”

Harrah’s launched the next statement via their Twitter account following the incident:

“To adjust to gaming laws, Harrah’s New Orleans checks IDs for our company who seem like underneath 30 years outdated. To take action, we use an accepted digital reader, much like what you’d discover at an airport TSA checkpoint. Our Workforce Members are skilled to judge identification in accordance with native laws. On this case, Ms. Harrison, who seemed to be underneath 30, introduced a Louisiana driver’s license that didn’t clear our digital verification system. When requested for an alternate type of identification, she introduced a navy ID card, however the info on the navy ID card didn’t match the data she had verbally communicated to our safety officers. Consequently, in compliance with relevant gaming laws, our safety officers didn’t allow Ms. Harrison to enter the on line casino. Caesars Leisure has an unwavering dedication to variety and our navy. We’re saddened by this example and can proceed to judge our processes to make sure that we uphold each our dedication to our company and our regulators. We’ve reached out to Ms. Harrison, who tell us she will probably be retaining authorized counsel; as such, we may have no additional remark.”

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