A US Army officer was denied entry to a New Orleans casino because she claimed her military ID was fake.
When 2nd Lieutenant Deja Harrison tried to enter the casino for her brother's 21st birthday, her Louisiana drivers license wouldn't show up in the electronic readers. Harrison says a security officer told her the I.D. was fake when she presented her military ID.
The lawsuit claims that the security officer said "this isn't you" and that "there's no way you could've made E6 that quickly", referring to Harrison's former rank of staff sergeant. Harrison was recently commissioned as an officer.
Harrison told Insider she was in disbelief when she was told she wouldn't be allowed in the casino.
"I gave so much to Harrah's: my paystub, my license, my military ID, and my vaccine card," Harrison said.
Harrison started to record the encounter when the security guard refused to use her military ID.
October 5, 2021 is the date.
A photo of a woman in uniform.
Deja Harrison is the author.
In the video, the security guard says that he is not saying that the ID is fake. I don't think it's you.
James DeSimone, an attorney for Harrison, said that he jumped to his own stereotypes that a black woman like Deja couldn't rise to her rank quickly. DeSimone said the security guard threatened to call the police. The older white male got hurt when she videotaped him.
The lawsuit asks that Harrah's acknowledge that it violated Harrison's human rights under Louisiana law and that it change its policies around scanning guests' identification. It also wants an amount in damages.
"I hope they take accountability of their actions," Harrison said. They lied a lot in their statements and made me look bad.
An earlier statement said that Harrison was denied entry because the information on her ID card did not match the information she said she would give.
Harrah's New Orleans is in New Orleans.
