Barneys To Pay $525K In Racial Profiling Case

Barney’s New York has agreed to pay $525,000 to end a nine-month New York State Attorney General investigation into allegations of racial profiling of customers.The store will also implement several measures to prevent future incidents.. In April 2013, an 18-year-old black man paid $350 for a designer belt, and a Barney’s employee reported it to the police as suspicious behavior. A similar incident had occurred in February 2013 when a 21-year-old black woman purchased a $2,500 purse and was surrounded by police upon leaving the store. The two individuals sued Barney’s for discrimination, and the attorney general found a record of a disproportionate number of African American and Latino customers being detained for alleged shoplifting or credit card fraud. In addition to the fine, the company has agreed to implement a number of policies intended to prevent racial profiling.