Civil-rights group seeks meeting with Barneys CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — A civil-rights group said today it was seeking a meeting with the CEO of Barneys New York in the wake of racial profiling claims by two shoppers at the high-end department store.
The Brooklyn chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network said the group also plans to picket Barneys if the alleged pattern of racial profiling does not stop, its president, Kirsten John Foy, said in a statement.
Two black shoppers this week accused Barneys of detaining them after they made expensive purchases at the store in Manhattan. One of them has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Barneys, the city and its police department; another filed a complaint with the city's police watchdog agency.
"Barneys New York has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination and we stand by our long history in support of all human rights," the luxury retailer said in a statement.
Sharpton's association said it plans other action against the New York Police Department for what it called "continued use of the discriminatory pattern and practice against people of color."
Trayon Christian, 19, of Queens, filed a lawsuit Monday saying he was detained solely because he is a young black man.