Yet another department store customer has stepped forward with a racial profiling lawsuit - but this time, Macy's head is on the chopping block.
Actor Robert Brown, known for his role in the Sean Connery film "Finding Forrester," filed a civil suit for an unspecified sum against the retail store, according to the New York Post. New York Police Department undercover cops reportedly illegally searched Brown on June 8, 2013.
The 29-year-old Treme told The Post that he was stopped by law enforcement officials at the Sunglass Hut store inside Macy's New York City location in Herald Square. According to the suit, Brown, who is a black man, gave identification to the police officers who said "that his identification was false and that he could not afford to make such an expensive purchase." Brown said he was arrested and held by law enforcement for more than an hour before they let him go with no charges.
This event holds uncanny resemblance to the case of 19-year-old college student Trayon Christian and 21-year-old nursing student Kayla Phillips, who both filed law suits against luxury retail store Barneys and the NYPD last week.
Macy's released a statement on Sunday, saying that the store's "personnel were not involved in Mr. Brown detention or questioning," which was "an operation of the NYPD."
Nicholas Elefterakis, Brown's attorney, told The Post that these kinds of incidents were part of an "epidemic."
"It's unbelievable," Elefterakis said.
Christian was stopped by police officers who questioned where and how he'd gotten the money to buy the Salvatore Ferragamo belt he purchased from Barneys last week. Shortly after the even, Kayla Phillips came forward, claiming that she'd also been followed by law enforcement officials who held her, demanding how she was able to buy the $2,500 Celine bag she'd saved up for months to buy at Barneys.
Barney's chief executive Mark Lee issued a statement on Thursday, saying that the company offered its "sincere regret and deepest apologies," and that it will "conduct a thorough review of our practices and procedures as they relate to these matters, to ensure that they reflect our continued commitment to fairness and equality."
