Ontario business owner says she’s often confused with other Black women and blames it for a big bank mistake | CBC News

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When Ce Johnston of Waterloo, Ont., picked up a void cheque at her local RBC Royal Bank in November 2022, she never imagined it would be the start of a process that took months for her to recover about $13,000 from her clients.

Johnston, who owns the business Ce Food Experience, said a bank teller gave her a void cheque with someone else’s account number on it, something she only learned after giving that account information to clients for them to pay advance costs on large orders.

Johnston says she’s constantly mistaken for other Black women and believes that was also behind the wrong account number on the void cheque. RBC is calling it a clerical issue and denies the staff member involved confused Johnston with someone else.

smiling woman in kitchen with apron
Ajoa Mintah, owner of Four All Ice Cream, a natural ice cream shop in Waterloo, told CBC that when heard about what had happened with Johnston, she became concerned about her own bank accounts. (Submitted by Ajoa Mintah)

Johnston said the entire situation has caused her stress from both a personal and professional perspective.

“This is something that … completely and totally … dehumanized me in a way that I didn’t expect and can’t cope with. It’s something that on a daily basis, I’m just in tears about it.”

Worries about confidentiality

Johnston recalled that during the process of recovering the $13,000 — which finally happened at the end of February — she wondered what was behind the mistake and whether it was another case of being mistaken for other Black business owners in Waterloo.

After learning the money hadn’t been deposited into her account, she at first assumed her clients had not yet paid her. Then, she noticed she was also missing money from a business development grant she was set to receive.

This all affected her cash flow. She was unable to fulfil orders. She couldn’t pay her staff on time.

If I make a big stink about it, then I’m fulfilling the other trope of being an angry Black woman. So you just take it as unfortunate and you move on with your day.– Lenore Johnson, owner of LenJo Bakes

Johnston flagged the problem to RBC, and in January received a call from a bank representative who told her the money had been deposited into another client’s account.

It took several more weeks before Johnston received money, with the full balance restored at the end of February.

Mistaken in the past

Johnston said she experienced another issue at the bank, separate from the void cheque incident.

Also in February,  she said, she was doing some routine banking when she watched the teller who was serving her open up the account of Ajoa Mintah, a Black small business owner of Four All Ice Cream in Waterloo.

“So if she truly believed that I was Ajoa and I was bringing her this account information for a different business, like that should have been a big red flag on her part. There’s a breach of security here, right?” Johnston said. “There’s no confidentiality here because she’s either allowing Ajoa to access my account information or she’s allowing Ce Food Experience to access Ajoa’s information … because she’s talking to me and doing this transaction as if I’m Ajoa.”

Dear Ms. Johnston, We acknowledge that in November 2022 when you requested a void cheque for your business account, the incorrect transit number was encoded on the cheque causing funds to be deposited into the incorrect account. We have since corrected the error and would like to apologize for the experience and for the inconvenience this situation has caused you. We value your business and thank you for your loyalty over the last seven years. We are committed to providing high quality service to our clients and sincerely hope that the resolution of this matter will help restore your confidence in RBC. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Assistant Branch Manager.
After Johnston complained to RBC, the bank apologized in this letter ‘for the inconvenience caused.’ (Submitted by Cecilia Johnston)

Mintah told CBC that when she heard about what had happened with Johnston, she became concerned about the security of her own bank accounts.

“So I spent a couple of hours just combing through my own transactions on my own, just to make sure that there wasn’t anything unusual. It also prompted me to call my business account manager to let him know the issue and also to have him go through my accounts as well to make sure that everything was intact and there’s no there’s no strange transactions,” she said.

“As a small business owner, I don’t have a couple [of spare] hours, but I spent a couple of hours just going and going through my account over the past few months to ensure that everything’s done well, that there was nothing or there’s nothing untoward or strange in my account.”

woman smiles in front of a bakery
Johnston’s bakery, Ce Food Experience, has been open in Waterloo since 2014. (Submitted by Ce Johnston)

CBC asked RBC to comment on Johnston’s concerns that racism may have been at the root of the misplaced money.

RBC declined an interview, but it did send CBC an emailed statement.

“We take all concerns of this nature seriously,” the statement said.

“We reviewed the circumstances of this matter and can confirm that the issue our client experienced with their account was the result of a clerical error which was corrected once discovered. The error was not connected, in any way, to our staff member inadvertently confusing Ms. Johnston for another client during a separate conversation.”

RBC said it will continue to train employees so they learn more about diversity, bias and anti-racism. 

When asked to clarify whether the bank teller opening Mintah’s accounts in front of Johnston was considered a security breach, RBC said it has “not identified any security breaches in connection with Ms. Johnston’s concerns.”

As for the misplaced $13,000, RBC said it was due to a clerical error and the funds were “credited to another account holder who was not connected, in any way, with the concerns raised by Ms. Johnston”.

Racism question not addressed

The bank did give Johnston a written apology for misdirecting the about $13,000 of her money for around three months and any inconvenience that might have come from it.

But Johnston wants the bank to more directly address the harm she believes was caused by mixing her up with Mintah.

Johnston said the apology did not address her concerns about racism. 

It’s just demoralizing, demeaning, dehumanizing.– Ce Johnston, owner of Ce Food Experience

She also said it’s hard to quantify the scale of the stress and  reputation impact resulting from the money mix-up.

Black woman stands inside a bakery
Johnston says she’s had to fight for recognition on every level. (Aastha Shetty/CBC)

“I can’t even begin to start putting together a spreadsheet because no matter what number I put on there, it’s not going to be enough. It’s been months of me losing credibility with the vendors that I supply to that I’ve never had any issues with whatsoever. It’s been months of me creating this rift at work where my employees or colleagues come up to me and I’m on eggshells and frustrated and in tears.”

The incident with Johnston has had a ripple effect on Mintah as well.

“It’s emotionally taxing just to realize that somewhere where you bank with daily, I’m not in an individual [in the eyes of the bank],” she said.

“I’m indistinguishable from other people who happened to be of the same gender and the same skin colour as me.”

Johnston feels her concerns about racism were not taken seriously by RBC bank staff until her colleague and husband, who are both white, spoke up on her behalf.

She said she no longer feels confident enough to go on her own to the bank, so she takes a white colleague with her for any business trips. 

Not the first mix-up

The women said while the efforts to support Black women in business are important, they can’t help but have low expectations because of the many negative experiences they’ve had already.

Mintah said this is not the first time they’ve been mixed up for each other.

A wholesale distributor in Kitchener, GT French, has also confused Johnston and Mintah with each other and a third business owner, Lenore Johnson of LenJo Bakes in Kitchener.

woman smiling
Mintah says that when heard about what had happened with Johnston, she became concerned about the security of her own bank accounts. (Submitted by Ajoa Mintah)

GT French sent CBC News a statement saying the company regrets any negative experiences that the three women have had.

“We certainly do not condone any racism,” it said in part. “We do strive to ensure that our services are provided free of any discrimination.”

“It’s happened, I would probably say at least five if not more times over the years, even though our businesses are distinctly different,” Johnson of LenJo Bakes said about being confused for other Black businesswomen.

“If I make a big stink about it, then I’m fulfilling the other trope of being an angry Black woman. So you just take it as unfortunate and you move on with your day.”

Lenore Johnson holds a vanilla cake with pink and white frosting
Lenore Johnson is the owner of LenJo Bakes, a cake shop in Kitchener. (JD Photography)

All three women say they’ve had to take extra steps to double check for other wrong or backdated charges on their accounts. 

Johnston said their experiences go much deeper than interactions in a professional setting.

“We operate as Black women who are trying to just get through the day … dealing with our problems to the point that we constantly brush off the constant bullshit, the constant misidentification, the constant racism, the constant aggression, the constant battle that we have with customers weekly.”

She said she has to fight for recognition on every level — even with her customers.

“I have customers and patrons who come in who physically argue with me. They verbally argue with me that I do not own Ce Food Experience — the bakery,” Johnston said, adding she’s posted a picture of herself on the wall to convince people she actually owns the business.

“It’s just demoralizing, demeaning, dehumanizing.” 

LISTEN | Waterloo business owner says being constantly mistaken for other Black women is “dehumanizing.’

The Morning Edition – K-W8:58A business owner from Waterloo says she is tired of being mixed up for other Black women

A woman from Waterloo says she is tired of being mixed up for other Black business owners. The mix-ups may have been behind big consequences for bakery owner Ce Johnston, whose $13,000 was misplaced for weeks. Johnston also says that on a different occasion, the bank mixed her up for another Black woman who owns a separate business. CBC K-W’s Aastha Shetty has the full story.

Five fists raised, different shades of brown skin, next to text that says Being Black in Canada surrounded by an orange and red border.
(CBC)

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

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