Black Shoppers at Barneys and Macy’s Say They Were Profiled by Security
Several months ago, a meeting was convened at Barneys New York to discuss a growing problem: A significant amount of inventory was being lost to theft. Something had to be done.
A new security management team instituted a more aggressive loss prevention strategy. Security personnel said they were encouraged to “take chances” in stopping suspicious customers, even if it meant intercepting innocent people. Bad grabs, they said they were told, were part of the business.
The number of contacts with the Police Department, made when security workers suspected a person had been shoplifting or engaging in credit card fraud, soon jumped drastically.
But along with the increase in cases, complaints began to surface from black shoppers who said they were victims of racial profiling in the store, on Madison Avenue. At least one shopper has filed a lawsuit against Barneys, and another plans to.
The lawsuits, which came to light last week and landed on the front page of The Daily News, attracted national attention for their allegations of race- and class-based discrimination. The suits raised criticism not only of Barneys, but of celebrity figures, like Jay-Z, who has a partnership with the store. They have also led to an inquiry by the state attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, and on Tuesday there was an unlikely meeting of the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Barneys chief executive, Mark Lee.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/30/nyregion/black-shoppers-at-barneys-and-macys-say-they-were-profiled-by-security.html
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