FROM TOP: PEARL GABEL/NY DAILY NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF KAYLA PHILLIPS
SHOPPING
WHILE BLACK
been accused in two cases of alleged
racial discrimination that sparked
widespread outrage. Trayon Christian, a 19-year-old college student,
sued Barneys in Manhattan Supreme Court in October, after he
was falsely accused of shoplifting
a $359 Ferragamo belt he bought
at the Madison Avenue store. After
Christian’s story spread, 21-yearold nursing student Kayla Phillips
alleged that she experienced racial
profiling after she bought a $2,500
Céline bag at the same store.
When contacted by HuffPost, a
Barneys spokeswoman pointed to
a statement the company’s CEO,
Mark Lee, made after a meeting
with Rev. Al Sharpton and black
community leaders in response to
alleged profiling: “We take this issue very seriously, and if any employees were to deviate from our
policies we would terminate those
individuals immediately,” Lee said.
Barneys has said its employees
were not involved in either incident, effectively shifting blame to
the New York Police Department
officers who stopped the customers. The company apologized, and
assured it will review its internal
procedures to make sure such incidents don’t happen again.
The retailer brought in Michael
Yaki, who serves on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, to consult.
He led an investigation on Barneys
HUFFINGTON
12.08.13
Students Trayvon Christian (above) and Kayla Phillips (below) both
alleged that Barneys had racially profiled them earlier this year.