Despite a quick internal review and a successful end to their 2013 holiday season, department store Barneys isn’t in the clear when it comes to recent allegations racial profiling.
The retailer is still under the scrutiny of a number of organizations and regulatory bodies, including the New York State Attorney General’s office.
An internal audit by Barneys cleared the department store of any wrongdoing in two very high-profile cases of alleged racial profiling. A report, released in November, stated that Barneys employees didn’t take any action against Kayla Phillips and Trayon Christian, black customers detained by the New York Police Department under suspicion of debit card fraud after shopping in the store.
And despite intense media coverage of the allegations, particularly around the store’s partnership with Jay Z in a holiday collection, Barneys had a successful holiday season. In fact, a source close to the retailer told the New York Daily News that the collection with Jay Z made upwards of $1 million. That revenue, plus 10 percent of Barneys’ sales on the day of the line’s launch, will go to Jay Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation and its scholarship fund.
It’s not case closed, however.
The New York State Attorney General’s office also launched a probe into the alleged incidents of profiling at Barneys and Macy’s. In letters to the companies, the office warned that both could be in violation of state and local civil rights law prohibiting “racial discrimination in places of public accommodation” related to allegations of racial profiling.
“The Attorney General is committed to ensuring that all consumers have equal access to stores and retail sites regardless of race,” said Damien LaVera, spokesman for New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in an update to theGrio. “The office will continue to actively investigate allegations of unlawful profiling.”
Along with the New York State Attorney General, Al Sharpton’s National Action Network has pledged its commitment to seeing the issue of alleged racial profiling by retailers through to a resolution. The report by Barneys suggested that members of the NYPD initiated contact with Phillips and Christian but stopped short of explaining how officers gained access to Barneys’ security system and details of their relationship with the retailer.
“We need to take the emphasis off who initiated the contact,” said Kirsten John Foy, president of Brooklyn Chapter of the National Action Network. “It is clear there was some collaboration by the parties. They can point fingers at one another but, in my opinion, they’re both responsible and both have to address the core policies that resulted in these miscarriages of justice and address injuries to the victims.”
Foy says there are several regulatory and legislative bodies on the state and local level that are currently investigating department stores. Many have so far been cooperative, he says, including Barneys and Macy’s – even adopting a customer “bill of rights.” Next, Foy says the National Action Network is interested in a second phase of action where retailers reassess many of their practices and policies from hiring to customer relations.
“Our position remains that this is a problem that cannot be dealt with overnight and cannot be dealt with piecemeal. It has to be dealt with holistically,” says Foy. “We are committed holding the retailers accountable.”
In terms of whether the public is just as committed to maintaining pressure on Barneys and other retailers, Foy says he has faith that people will continue to care about the issue.
“The problem is so pervasive and aggressive and egregious that people feel it intimately,” he says. “The reason you had such a reaction in the community is because we can all relate to it. Many have had that experience going into a store. That feeling of disrespect and loss of dignity doesn’t go away.”
Follow Donovan X. Ramsey at @iDXR
