Homeless Black Man Arrested for “Fake” (Actually, Real) $10 Bill at Burger King

A homeless black man tried to buy breakfast at a Boston Burger King in November 2015. He placed his order and handed the cashier a $10 bill. The cashier called the police and had the man arrested for presenting a counterfeit bill. The police arrested the man, Emory Ellis. He spent three months in jail. At that point, the U.S. Secret Service examined the bill and found it was legal. Ellis was released.

Ellis is now suing Burger King for $1 million. His attorney, Justin Drecshler, told Law360 (a legal reporting service), “Had Mr. Ellis been a 35-year-old white man with some downtown job and tried to pass that exact same bill, there is no chance things would have gone down as they did. There is no chance they would have questioned it. There is no chance they would have refused to give it back or threatened to call the police. Had Mr. Ellis been white, he would have received an apology.”