NYC Threatens Retailers With Subpoenas for Profiling

On Wednesday, New York City’s human rights agency said it is demanding information from major retailers about the alleged racial profiling of Hispanic and black customers, threatening to issue subpoenas if the companies don’t comply.

Illegal stops, searches, seizures, and arrests.

Macy’s, Barneys New York Inc., CVS Caremark Corp, Bloomingdale’s Inc., and Saks Fifth Avenue were among 17 retailers whose CEOs received letters from NYC’s Human Rights Commissioner Pat Gatling. Gatling is demanding two years worth of information from the retailers about which customers are most often targeted by loss-prevention departments and the relationship between each store and the NYPD.

Macy’s should have no problem coming up with the records for Gatling, since they agreed to track store detentions in settling a “shopping while black” discrimination case for $600,000 in 2005.

The NYPD’s relationship with major retailers has also come under scrutiny recently after two class action lawsuits were filed accusing the department of racial profiling in issuing allegedly unconstitutional “stop and frisks” on the street.

The investigation follows a class action lawsuit filed by actor Rob Brown on November 13, which alleges that Macy’s accused him of using a fake credit card when making a purchase and wrongfully detained him. The African-American actor’s complaint alleges the NYPD officers at Macy’s ignore the Fourth Amendment rights of minority shoppers and racially profile customers in issuing “illegal stops, searches, seizures, and arrests,” according to the New York Daily News.