Well, so much for all those lawsuits (maybe): a review of Barneys New York's store policies paid for by Barneys says the retailer was not responsible for incidents in which two customers were allegedly racially profiled after making purchases, and that any culpability lies with the NYPD. Case closed, move along, nothing to see here folks!
The review, which was commissioned by Barneys and spearheaded by San Francisco civil rights lawyer Michael Yaki, reportedly found that Barneys did not "request, require nor initiate the actions of the New York Police Department" when officers accosted black customers Trayvon Christian, 19, and 21-year-old Kayla Phillips, and unjustly accused them of credit card fraud. Yaki reviewed store procedure and policies and interviewed store employees; he did not, however, speak with any NYPD officers during his investigation.
Barneys has blamed the NYPD for the profiling drama before; cops say in both instances, they were in the store on unrelated matters and took action against Christian and Phillips "after conferring with Barneys employees while in their security room." And if that was the case, as Reverend Al Sharpton points out, whether or not Barneys explicitly permits racial profiling doesn't really matter. "If this report is to be believed, it raises more questions than it answers,” Sharpton told the Daily News. “If they have given the NYPD the right to do what they want, and they’re racial profiling, then you have turned a blind eye to racial profiling.”
Christian and Phillips have both filed notice of claim that they intend to sue the NYPD for the profiling incidents; the City Council will be holding a hearing today to discuss the incidents as well.
