U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant Deja Harrison is filing an internal civil complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and a separate civil rights lawsuit against Harrah’s New Orleans, claiming the casino would not allow her in with her military ID. A video of the confrontation between Harrison and a Harrah’s Casino employee has gone viral online.
Harrison said she went to Harrah’s for a family event on October 5, but her driver’s license wouldn’t scan and the Harrah’s employee wouldn’t allow her in with her military ID.
Harrison said, “He looked at the ID and said, ‘This ID is fake. This isn’t you. There’s no possible way you made this rank in such a short period of time.’ I’m literally shocked that someone would say I lied about being in the Army.” Harrison added, “I shouldn’t have been profiled. There are black women in the military that are excelling.”
Harrison said she also showed the Harrah’s employee her military pay stub. “There’s no reason why I shouldn’t have been allowed into the casino. He didn’t give me a shot. He didn’t even scan my ID. I was very upset and hurt,” Harrison said.
Harrah’s released a statement about the interaction. “To comply with gaming regulations, Harrah’s New Orleans checks IDs for our guests who appear to be under 30 years old. To do so, we use an approved electronic reader, similar to what you would find at an airport TSA checkpoint. Our team members are trained to evaluate identification in accordance with local regulations. In this case, Ms. Harrison, who appeared to be under 30, presented a Louisiana driver’s license that did not clear our electronic verification system. When asked for an alternative form of identification, she presented a military ID card, but the information on the military ID card did not match the information she had verbally communicated to our security officers. As a result, in compliance with applicable gaming regulations, our security officers did not permit Ms. Harrison to enter the casino.”
The statement continued, “Caesars Entertainment has an unwavering commitment to diversity and our military. We are saddened by this situation and will continue to evaluate our processes to ensure that we uphold both our commitment to our guests and our regulators. We have reached out to Ms. Harrison, who let us know she will be retaining legal counsel; as such, we will have no further comment.”
Harrison’s attorney James DeSimone said, “There’s no apology in that statement. In Harrah’s statement they seek to blame her. She just informed the manager truthfully that was her rank, and now she’s been promoted. That is not an inconsistency. That is a clarification. We are seeking accountability and there needs to be some repercussion.”
