New York's State's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman launched an investigation Tuesday into Macy's Inc. and Barneys New York as black customers complained they were being racially profiled by police after they had made luxury purchases, Reuters reported.
AG Schneiderman gave "the two department store chains until Friday to turn over information about their policies for detaining and questioning customers," news reports said.
Mark Lee, the Barnreys Chief Executive disagreed, saying, "we believe that [there were no] employees involved in those incidents. No one from Barneys brought them to the attention of our internal security and no one from Barneys reached out to external authorities."
Lee had a a meeting with Reverend Al Sharpton and members of the National Action Network on Tuesday to discuss the incidents.
Schneiderman's office also said "that at various times in the last eight months they were stopped by police after shopping at the two stores," Reuters also reported.
"The alleged repeated behavior of your employees raises troubling questions about your company's commitment to that ideal," Kristen Clarke said. Clarkheads the attorney general's civil rights bureau.
Barneys and the New York Police had been named in a lawsuit filed by Trayon Christian who said that police detained him in April for two hours after he bought a belt worth almost $400. He was released soon thereafter by authorities without charging him.
"Police crime statistics show grand larceny has risen 31.6 percent over the past two years in the Midtown North precinct," Reuters reported.
