Several black customers at Macy's and Barneys New York have recently complained about being detained by police after buying luxury items. The complaints are serious enough that New York's attorney general has launched an investigation.
The New York state attorney general is investigating the policies of Macy's Inc and Barneys New York Inc after several allegations of racial profiling at the high end department stores surfaced recently.
The office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has sent letters to the CEO of Barneys New York, Mark Lee, and the CSO of Macy's, Peter Sachse.
In the letters, both stores are asked to turn over their "policies and procedures for stopping, detaining and, questioning" customers, as well as all data and documents pertaining to the "stops and detentions" of customers by Friday, Nov. 1.
"Attorney General Schneiderman is committed to ensuring that all New York residents are afforded equal protection under the law. The alleged repeated conduct of your employees raises troubling questions about your company's commitment to that ideal, and the company's compliance with state and local civil rights laws," Kristen Clarke, who heads the attorney general's civil rights bureau, wrote in the letters.
Read the letters
here.
The controversy started last week, when two black customers claimed that they were stopped by police after buying items at Barneys, a high-end store that is similar to Nieman-Marcus and Lord & Taylor. Trayon Christian says he was stopped by undercover NYPD detectives after buying a $350 belt with a Chase debit card at Barneys' store on 60th Street. He was detained for two hours before being released, and no charges were filed. Christian is suing the NYPD, Barneys and the city for discrimination. Kayla Phillips claims that police surrounded her after she bought a $2,500 handbag with a temporary debit card, but was released after showing her ID. She's filed a complaint with the NYPD's Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Then a few days ago, actor Robert Brown sued Macy's, saying he was stopped and handcuffed for an hour after buying a $1,350 watch for his mom at Macy's flagship store on Herald Square. And Art Palmer says he was surrounded by police after buying $320 worth of Polo shirts and ties. The Civilian Complaint Review Board is investigating.
Barneys has retained Commission on Civil Rights member Michael Yaki to review its policies, and its CEO has offered what seems to be an unreserved apology. Macy's, on the other hand, claims this is all the NYPD's doing. One would think Macy's wouldn't be passing the buck, since in 2005-06 it settled a federal civil rights suit brought by Schneiderman's predecessor, now-governor Andrew Cuomo, for similar behavior.
Suffice to say that a lot of heads may need to roll here, if this is even half as egregious as this sounds.