The retail giant Macy’s has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle claims that minority customers were treated unfairly at its flagship Herald Square store in New York City.
The Wall Street Journal reported that in addition to the monetary compensation, Macy’s will implement new policies and practices including designating an expert on anti-discrimination laws and racial-profiling prevention. This follows an 18-month investigation headed by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
Just last week, another New York retailer, Barney’s, agreed to pay $525,000 to settle a racial profiling suit.
In each of the cases, dozens of African American and Latino customers said that they had been stopped, wrongfully accused of stealing and detained by the store’s security staff.
In a statement Wednesday, Macy’s had this to say:
"Our company's policies strictly prohibit any form of discrimination or racial profiling and any occurrence of such behavior will not be tolerated in our organization.”
Investigations at other stores for similar incidents are reportedly ongoing, however, Schneiderman did not comment on those.