Barneys New York is trying to make amends after the upscale store faced discrimination charges last year. The luxury retailer has agreed to pay $525,000 in fines and legal fees to put the whole thing behind them.
Last year, Barneys made headlines as multiple people complained about racial profiling in and around their Madison Ave, NYC flagship store. During a nine-month review of the brand, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, found that from October 2012 to October 2013, the store’s private data showed that Blacks and Hispanics were detained at higher rates than other racial groups. Officials determined that a change in security procedures after the hiring of new security executive in March 2013 prompted the racial profiling.
Facing higher levels of shoplifting, store security determined that this was a way to get the numbers back down. In addition to paying the hefty fine, Barneys has hired an anti-profiling consultant and plans to retrain all employees (especially security) to keep the racist practices from occurring in the future.
In April 2013, Trayon Christian, a 19-year-old black man was stopped, frisked, and accused of credit card fraud by plainclothes NYPD after purchasing a $349 black Ferragano belt.
A similar situation occurred for Kayla Phillips, a 21-year-old black nursing student, who had just purchased an expensive $2500 orange Celine bag.