The Attorney General of the state of New York is now investigating Barneys and Macy’s after several reports of “shopping while Black” were published by the media, including by The New Civil Rights Movement. Eric Schneiderman’s office sent both stores letters demanding statistics on how many customers — detailed by race and national origin — the stores have detained, what their policies for detaining customers are, what contracts or relationships they have with external security firms, including the NYPD, and anti-discrimination policies currently in effect.
The letters note the investigations are in response to media reports that suggest that Barneys and Macy’s “may be engaging in a potential pattern of unlawful racial profiling of customers.”
In a letter to Macy’s, Schneiderman’s office also noted the department store giant had previously entered into a “court-ordered settlement agreement requiring it to not engage in racial profiling,” according to the NY Daily News.
“Attorney General Schneiderman is committed to ensuring that all New York residents are afforded equal protection under the law,†Kristen Clarke, who heads the AG’s civil rights bureau, wrote to Barneys CEO Mark Lee and Macy’s Chief Stores Officer Peter Sachse.
“The alleged repeated behavior of your employees raises troubling questions about your company’s commitment to that ideal,†Clarke told both.
Last week, The New Civil Rights Movement reported on Trayon Christian, a 19-year old engineering student who was reportedly handcuffed and arrested by the NYPD after he bought a $349 Salvatore Ferragamo belt at Barneys New York. We also reported on Kayla Phillips, a 21-year old nursing student from Brooklyn who says she bought a $2300 orange suede Céline bag from Barneys with her debit card — only to be accused of credit card fraud by police blocks away. And this weekend we reported on the case of Treme actor Rob Brown, who is accusing Macy’s of detaining him for suspicion of credit card fraud when the award-winning actor bought his mother a watch for her college graduation earlier this year.
In all three reports, suspects suggested they felt singled out for being Black and were asked by police how they could afford such expensive items.